Light & Shadow

Light & Shadow Light is the raw material of photography, without it, we cant make images

Its all about the light

Photography is the manipulation of light

serves artistic needs serves technical needs at times, these are synonymous

Terry Ownby

What is Light?
light is a type of energy called electromagnetic radiation this energy travels through spaced in tiny bundles called photons photons are pure energy and have no mass photons travel through space at the same speed (~186,000 miles per second!)

What is Light?
electromagnetic field surrounding some photons fluctuate faster than others human eyes see the effect of this varying photo energy and its different electromagnetic field fluctuation rate
this difference we perceive and call it color

Wavelength or Frequency

electromagnetic field fluctuation is called frequency

the unit of measure is hertz alternative measure is nanometer

Photographers Describe Light

being able to describe light is the first step to controlling it if uncontrollable, e.g., landscapes, then ability to describe it implies seeing light well enough to:
shoot, or wait for better lighting conditions

Brightness of Light
Single most important quality of a light source is its brightness if not bright enough, we cannot create an image brightness determines if we use
small or large apertures fast or slow shutter speeds

photographers are mainly concerned with three aspects of light:

brightness color contrast

Color of Light
most pictures are made with white light white light comes in a range of colors (visible spectrum) light is considered to be white when it roughly contains equal parts of: red green blue the eye can detect slight changes in the color mix, but the brain white balances so we think its white more on this in the Color Temperature lecture

Contrast of Light
high-contrast light high all rays come from nearly same angle & produce hard-edged shadows hard-

low-contrast light low rays strike subject from many different angles produces a soft-edged shadow soft-

Shadows: the opposite side of light

part of the scene where light does not strike the subject conversely, the area illuminated is known as the highlight
Terry Ownby Terry Ownby

Shadows reveal information about the light source

types of shadows
hard-edged shadows come from small light sources, called hard light soft-edged shadows come from a very large light source and this is called soft light

Terry Ownby

Physics of Light
three characteristics of light
transmit absorb reflect

Transmission of Light
light can pass through certain materials
clean air clear glass

Refraction
the bending of light rays when transmitted through objects refraction is a result of changing lights speed due to the viscosity or density of material its passing through
this also occurs when incidents rays are not perpendicular to surface

Terry Ownby

direct transmission is when light passes through invisible objects simple, direct transmission occurs only when light strikes subject on perpendicular angle

Air Glass

Refracted Light

Air Glass Air

Brad Bartholomew

Diffuse Transmission
occurs as light passes through semi-transparent or translucent objects
white glass thin paper clouds
Translucent Material

Transmitted Light Diffused

light rays scatter in many random, unpredictable patterns

Terry Ownby Terry Ownby

Absorption
when light is absorbed by a material, its never again seen as visible light absorbed energy still exists, but is usually transformed invisibly to heat cannot be photographed

Absorption

Heat

Heat

Reflection of Light
light striking a subject and bouncing off
reflections make vision possible we dont actually see objects, only the light reflecting off them!

Reflected Light

light reflection occurs in two primary ways:

diffuse reflection direct or specular reflection

reflections are characteristic of the subjects surface:

smooth, shiny surfaces mirror the light, specular reflection rough surfaces scatter light rays for diffused reflections

Terry Ownby

Terry Ownby

Diffused

Specular

LAW OF PHYSICS ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOULD KNOW!

angle of incidence equals angle of reflectance
Camera

Concludes Light
Reference/resources:
Light: Science & Magaic, by Fil Hunter & Magaic, Paul Fuqua Photography, 8th Ed., by Ed., London and Upton Secrets of Lighting on Location, by Bob Krist Location,
Terry Ownby

Incidence

Reflectance