A new series of tutorials explaining the fundamentals of photographic lighting are now available on the Slanted Lens YouTube channel. Entitled “The Laws of Light”, the first episode explains the subtle techniques involved in lighting spherical shapes.
Newcomers to photography often approach the craft with the incorrect assumption, that it is purely the camera and lens that guarantee a perfect shot every time, but light is crucial to any good photograph.
The Laws of Light series will attempt to teach lighting newbies the basics on how to dip into that paint palette properly. In a running time of just over 12 minutes, presenter Jay P. Morgan walks through the essentials of utilising light to create customised depth and dimension for a rounded subject. He strongly argues that creativity and experimentation are essential tools. The lazy default for the uninitiated photog, aiming a light source directly at a subject will make even the most shapely of curves appear flat.
/Slanted Lens /YouTube
Explaining the focus of the lesson, Morgan says, “This is a 3 dimensional object but if it’s lit incorrectly it looks one dimensional. If it’s lit correctly it now has a 3 dimensional quality even though we’re looking at it in a 2 dimensional experience. ”
The key to Morgan’s technique is the manipulation of five elements that transform with each lighting change: the highlight, the incident highlight, the core, the shadow, and the cast/drop shadow. By balancing between these elements, one can construct a variety of completely different images without ever changing the position of the subject. While over the course of the video he introduces increasingly advanced methods (soft versus hard light, subject to background depth, and multiple light sources) this list of five balanced elements remain the backbone of Morgan’s technique.
“Everything in the world is a sphere, a cube or a cylinder,” Morgan says. In upcoming episodes, Morgan will tackle lighting the other two shape types. Once mastered, viewers will hopefully have the confidence to light anything they can think of.
/Slanted Lens /YouTube
Though we do love the info injection Morgan’s tutorial provides, our only gripe is that the self-promotional adverts that appear throughout the video are incredibly cringeworthy. Regardless of this minor annoyance, Morgan is without a doubt a professional in this field with advice well worth listening to. Trained by Charlie Potts of the Art Center College of Design and having run The Slanted lens for several years, he definitely knows his stuff. Besides, everybody’s gotta eat.
. digitalrev.com2016-10-17 03:00