3/24/2020
Hello readers. My life over the past two weeks has had a similar turn I am sure that many of you had. An extra week of spring break to go with some social distancing and staying at home. It has not been the easy break I was hoping for. The lack of being able to work and helping my family out has, admittedly, been a hassle to manage. I did sneak in a little fun with video games, TV, and reading so I would like to think I had an otherwise normal break. I did return to my classes in an online format and will likely remain that way for the rest of the semester. However, I am starting to get back into the flow of schoolwork.
My first assignment back was to just experiment with lighting in photography. Using my phone, I needed to take a few photos that made use of a flash, natural lighting, and a mixture of both. Like many of my classmates, I have basically been confined to stay inside my home. I knew that this setback should not prevent my create ability, so I decided to practice some photography with what was already inside my room.
My first picture was taken only with the natural light of the room with the addition of a window. It has an f-stop of 1.9, an exposure time of 1/30 second, and an ISO of 125. I wanted to see how the natural light would light the shape of the fan against the similar white of the ceiling. I accomplished this by taking the shot from below as I laid on my back in order to get this angle. The lighting from the window came from behind me, or toward the upper half of the photo. I think that it is interesting how some of the fan’s blades are more clearly defined, while others almost blend into the background. I like how the natural lighting can give shape and definition on its own with a decent setup. It sometimes gives a less polished, but more in-the-moment appearance to a photo that might be harder to replicate with more staged lighting.
This photo made use of my camera’s flash. It has an f-stop of 1.9, an exposure time of 1/30 second, and an ISO of 64. This shot was taken by positioning myself to be more eye-level with the bed. The room was otherwise naturally lit, except for the camera’s flash positioned in front of the subject. I will admit that the outline of the cat was not as defined as I would like. The main goal here was to use the flash in order to see the distinct textures of the blanket, the bed below it, and the features of the cat. I think that this was basically accomplished. I think that I like this one the least. It has the flattest appearance among them and I wish I could better fine-tune the lighting of my phone to give more depth and definition.
My final photo used a mixture of the room’s natural light and the automatic lighting of my camera. It as an f-stop of 1.9, an exposure time of 1/17 second, and an ISO of 320. I wanted to do a shot that played a bit more with perspective and centering of the subject. I think that this one has an interesting amount of detail from the reflection in the coffee to the objects around it. Of these photos, I think this might be my favorite. The use of perspective gives the feeling that the viewer is the one peering down the cup instead of the photographer. There are colors that pop out, mostly the red, but in an almost matching unified way.
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