Exercise 4.1: Daylight – Explorations

Brief– Taking the photography of Mann, Atget or Schmidt or a photographer of your own choosing as your starting point, shoot a number of photographs exploring the quality of natural light. The exercise should be done in manual mode and the important thing is to observe the light, not just photograph it. In your learning log, and using the descriptions above as your starting point, try to describe the quality of the light in your photographs in own words.

Approach- I have taken several random images to simply understand the various characteristics and quality of light for this exercise.

1. In the first example, I have taken images of natural sun light in manual mode. To begin with, a simple image of the sun breaking through clouds can have such a different outcome. These three images are taken in sequence with the first one taken at normal exposure, the next one with one step lower exposure and the third one at two stops under-exposed. The images are in raw mode so as to show a true picture of the scene as was. I have kept the same setting in all images, playing just with the exposure.

Exif Info:

• Camera– Nikon D5
• Lens- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70MM F/2.8E ED VR
• ISO 100
• Manual Mode
• Temperature- 5050
• Exposure – Normal Exposure | One-stop under-exposed | Two-stop under-exposed
• f22
• Shutter Speed- 1/100s | 1/250s | 1/400s

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Talking about the quality of light, a lot can be learnt about light from reading these images carefully, such as:

• The normal exposure image looks more luminous and softer than the rest. It also looks too bright and perhaps a little too bright to the eye if viewed full screen.
• The clouds block the lights and allow it to permeate through any opening that there is. The denser the clouds, the more light is blocked and the lighter the clouds are the more light is permeated through.
• The size of the opening controls the direction and the output of the light.
• The areas closest to the beam of light have the strongest highlights but softest light, growing more contrasty as it goes outwards and further away.
• It gives us great insight into ways to control or manipulate and control light.
• It illustrates how a given light condition can be successfully manipulated to achieve different outcomes.
• By playing with exposure one can change the look, feel and mood of the a given scene.

2. In the example below, there are three images of changing natural light during a sunlit morning, medium and heavy rains. The images have been taken from my balcony and are shot in raw and presented with no editing to showcase a true picture. All images have been taken at normal exposure.

Exif Info:

• Camera– Canon 1DX Mark III
• Lens- Canon EF24-105mm f/4L
• ISO 400
• Manual Mode
• Temperature- 4850
• Exposure – Normal Exposure
• f18 | f5 | f5
• Shutter Speed- 1/320s | 1/60s | 1/160s

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Things to be noticed about the light in these images:

• In the first image of the same scene on a bright sunny morning, one can see as far as one’s eyes can, with all details and colours in place. One can notice all the individual colours in their vividness. In the second image, with the onset of medium rain, one can see the blue of the sky to be turning into a washed out pale blue. One can also notice that the horizon is shrinking with visibility being diminished considerably. In the last image, the rains are so powerful that the ambient environment appears more denser. The colours have muted even more and visibility shrunk to the minimum.
• Colours are more truer when the light is bright and clear. With clouds and rains, light tends to become more reduced, taking away with it the true quality of the colours and visibility.
• The sharpness reduces as well when the light tends to reduce. The crisp quality of the subjects which are visible in the first image due to ample light can no longer be witnessed with increased grain and blurriness in the subsequent images due to decreased light.

3. In the example below, even though I have lost the raw file and hence cannot share the exif data, yet I include it for its interesting play of light.

The image is interesting because in one frame and one type of subject, you can see the difference that light or the lack of it makes.

• The pigeons in this image are flying in an area where tall vertical buildings are casting a shadow upon a few of them, revealing their fine details in the lit part of the frame versus the dark shadowed part where the pigeons appear dark and the details obstructed.
• It is a great image to understand how light works and the lack of it.
• Light reveals and lack of it conceals.

4. In the example below, there are two images of changing natural light during different times of the day.

Exif Info:

• Camera– Nikon Z6
• Lens- Nikkor Z24-70mm f/4s
• ISO 200 |640
• Manual Mode
• Temperature- 4800
• Exposure – Normal Exposure
• f4
• Shutter Speed- 1/125s

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The above examples simply examine the quality of light at two different times during the day-

• The first image is taken around noon and the other in the evening during the time that the sun is about to set. In the first image one can see that the light appears to be white. In the second image one can see the light almost golden in colour.
• In the first image the light is harsh and bright and one can see it engulfing the immediate areas into an over exposed and high contrast feel almost whereas the light in the second image is much softer and subdued, softening its surroundings in a warm glow.
• This goes on to show the different lights available at different times of the day and how the changing light shows changing qualities.

4. In the two images below, we can observe what light does with the direct light source or the lack of it on a scene.

Exif Info:

• Camera– Nikon Z6
• Lens- Nikkor Z24-70mm f/4s
• ISO 140 | ISO 100
• Manual Mode
• Temperature- 4800
• Exposure – Normal Exposure
• f5.6
• Shutter Speed- 1/250s

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The following can be noticed about the quality of light in the above images-

• In the first image we can see the sun shining through directly on the trees and one can see the colours of the leaves getting washed out an as the beam of sun falls through as well as the white light turning into a prism of light.
• The objects under direct light are overpowered by the light whereas the objects farther away are vivid in colour.
• In the second image the dark clouds act as a diffusion and spread even light on the scene below.

5. In the images below, we will look at the permeable and reflective qualities of light, that offers us a great insight into light shaping. The images are taken from an iPhone.

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In the above set of images, one can note the following about the quality of light-

• Light is so much like water in its intrinsic quality of taking the shape of the space that allows it to permeate into.
• Light takes upon the pattern that it shines through as can be noticed in the pictures (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 & 10). The light can be seen filtering through the window blinds and glass to take upon the shape of the object through which it is filtering.
• In Image 1, 5 & 9 we can see the reflective qualities of light where it reflects any pattern or shape on the surface that it falls upon.
• These are great lessons in realizing how light can be shaped or used as a tool to create interesting compositions within your image.

Reflections

As a starting point, this exercise has been a tremendous source of learning along with the realisation of how light simply can be understood when one just stops and observe what it does. It has been interesting to note the fundamental properties of light that can radically influence an image are intensity, colour, quality and direction more of which I have tried to experiment with my subsequent exercises.

For me, studying of natural light has given me insights into how I can modify, shape and control it in a studio environment.