Lighting in Photographic Capture

Lighting can be natural can be artificial or it can even be momentary light like say lightning.

Momentary - Light that appears for a short time then disappears. Can be natural like lighting or a camera flash. Shutter speeds not as important for exposure as no time to react.

Continuous: Light which is there all the time. Natural (sun) or artificial (tungsten, street lights, building lights etc). Shutter speeds and AP needs to be balanced for good exposure.

In terms of light control photography there are two main types of light. Key and Fill light.

Key - The main light source. Responsible for shadows and highlights. The sun is considered a key light.

Fill - The ambient light that adds a little light to shadow areas allowing them to be seen. Fills in the nature the light is bouncing off. If no fill, one half of our faces would be in a shadow. Sometimes a reflector is used for fill light. The fill is typically placed opposite the key light source.

Reflectors ca be used with fill light. It could be white cardboard or a professional reflector. It could even be your assistant with a white t-shirt that is strategically placed.

The next issue with lighting is contrast or quality of light. 

The harsh light of a high contrast can allow you to be focused into one area of the photo. Where the highest contrast exists.

During the day lighting varies from soft to hard to soft again. Strong sun can produce harsher more directional lighting. Overcast conditions soften the light quality and are a better choice for some subjects.

It is posible to affect the contrast of any light by altering it's size.

Quality of Light - Is important as it can create the right 'feeling' within the photograph. It is often necessary to match your idea or subject with an appropriate light quality. A 'softer' style of shadows and highlights is controlled by the height and direction of your key light source.

Typically positioning the key light source slightly above the subject is best. As the main source of light in our world is always shining from above.

Back lighting is always generally nice. Side lighting is when light comes from the side of a subject.

Front lighting is the least interesting source. As it flattens the image. Rather than side or back lighting that creates a sense of depth.

The intensity of light is also important for a number of factors. The output level of the light itself. The distance the light source is from the subject. Use of diffusers or bounce-light techniques can affect the quality of light.

Lighting can be used in landscape photography. This usually requires allot of waiting for something special to occur.

Autumn Lighting

Principles of Graphic Design

Design is purposeful... Design explains the how of things: how to order a gift, how to navigate a website, how to serve the clients interests. It communicates ideas functions and ideas to specific ideas.

Design is informational... Provides information to the user.

Design uses a visual language - negative / positive, falling / rising, front / back, coming / going, thick / thin, opaque / transparent.

Leading the viewers eye - A composition may be broken down by reads. What is the viewer going to read first second third and so on.

Collaboration - People from different diciplines, clients or stakeholders, other designers.

Form vs Function - You will encounter a range of designers some prioritize aesthetics, beauty while other prioritize it's function. The key is a good balance.

Music and Music Technologies in Film

The 1900s had largely silent films until around the 1920s.

“the pure cinema must have had a ghostly effect like that of the shadow play–shadows and ghosts have always been associated. The major function of music…consisted in appeasing the evil spirits unconsciously dreaded’ the role of music in the silent film play, then, was to ‘exorcise fear or help the spectator absorb the shock’ – Hanns Eisler


Music Libraries - Silent film was generally never ever silent. There was normally an accompanying musical melody.

By 1919 Universal Films sent musical songs to attach to movies. This allowed for the movie producer to have more control over how the movie was played and heard. A famous song book at the time used was released know as a catalogue by Gulsseppe Becce's.

The first feature-length "talkie," "The Jazz Singer," 1927 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1HURXWH9FA

Within 30 years of silent film being created allot of ideas came up for importing sounds to an audience.

Early Sound FIlms were between 1928 - 1933 - Blue Angel, 1930, Friedrich Hollander... King Kong, 1933, Max Steiner.

1934 - 1940 The use of sound behind voice was widely recognized also known as underscoring.

In 1940 Disney's Fantasia was the first movie to use a multi-channel surround sound format known as Fantasound. It used screen left, screen centre and Screen right channels.

At the time a sound system that could playback all three channels was worth $85,000. It was installed in two theatres in New York and L.A.

1941 - 1951 - Patriotic style films were made to boost morale. Film Noir is an example of this. The movies during this time where generally used to transform from selfish to selfless - an important war message in the early 1940s.

1950s - The impact of

The the late 40s around 500 films per ear, by the 1960s around 250. By the 1950s there was a profusion of high quality films in an expanding range of film gneres, horror, sci-fi, life, etc.

1960s - Classical Film Score is used more sparingly and to create general moods rather than depict individual or changing emotions. Popular music was featured in movies such as Easy Rider (1969) or The Pink Panther (1963)

1965 was the introduction of Dolby a Noise Reduction as well as iMAX a sound innovation.

Dolby Stereo was introduced during the 1970s. It produced a high-quality sound.