Photos from Lighting Workshop with Steve Carty

Open Shadow #1

This photo was taken in open shadow. I used natural light and the shade to light the photo to the way it is. The model was placed in a way that the sun doesn't face her. I used the blue background because it was simple and it makes her stand out more. She is also sitting right in front of the door rather than a space between the door and her because it looks better because she is sitting. If she was standing, it would have looked better if she had some space between the door and her, but because she is sitting, it looks better without that space. I had her face away from the camera because I wanted the photo to seem more natural than planned. I also wanted her facial reaction to more real than planned, so whenever she would laugh, I would take the photo so it was real. I did not use a reflector for the lighting in this photo, it is all natural light. In photoshop, I changed the brightness of the photo making it lower. I also took some colour out of the photo because it was really bright in colour before. I also lowered the colour to match the theme of not too much colours in the photos during the workshop. I also added more contrast to the model because before it the model look very dull compared to the background. The contrast was to emphasize her more in the photo. 

Open Shadow #2

This photo of the model is very similar to the first open shadow photo that I took, but it still has many differences.  Like the first open shadow photo, this photo uses natural light from the outdoors to light the photo. I didn't use a reflector in the photo for changing the lighting in the photo. I also kept the model facing away from the sun so the light from the sun doesn't over expose the photo. I used the blue background again because it is simple and doesn't take your attention away from the model. She is also sitting right in front of the door rather than giving that space between her and door because it just looked more realistic and natural than planned. Once again, I had the model face away from the camera because I wanted the photo to look natural. Her facial expression and the way she is sitting is different in this photo then the last. The previous photo looked more fun and free but this one looks more serious and something is on her mind. In photoshop, once again, I lowered the brightness and added more contrast to it so she didn't look dull.  I also lowered the saturation because I wanted a theme of not too much colour, but some colour in my photos. 

Studio Lighting

This photo unlike the others that I took, was taken with studio light. It is a photo of my model but with a profile angle of her. In this photo, my goal was a silhouette. Although I didn't get an actual silhouette photo of the model, it still has some good features to it and it turned out to be a really nice photo. To get the white background and have my model a little darker, I used backlights on the background. There were no other lights. The backlights were 4 feet from the background of the photo. The model was in front of the backlights and far from the background. I did not use a reflector to change up the lighting in this photo. I put her in the profile angle because you can see some features of her face but not all of them and it looks purposeful. If she was facing directly at the camera it wouldn't look good because you would see some facial features and it wouldn't look as purposeful but it would like a mistake. After I took the photo, I took it to photoshop and I brightened her face just a little so you could see some features but not lose the silhouette feel of the photo. I added some contrast to her so she could stand out the background and once again not look dull.

Diagram of the Studio Lighting I Used For Photo #3

Overall, I am very happy with the photos that I took in the Lighting Workshop with Steve Carty and  I'm also very proud of the new skills I learned to add more to my photos and make them better. 

Thanks for reading :)