Shooting to Illustrate

Often shooters who are employed in-house by a news organization will be asked to create an image illustrative of an editorial - something that speaks metaphorically to an issue at hand. Not too long ago the Dixie Sun ran a story about student loan debt and the image that accompanied the story, as you might have already imagined, was that of a wallet that held a student ID, but was void of cash.

For this week's assignment, I want you to create an image that speaks to a concept or issue of your choice. The image above, for example, is a title slate for a YouTube page for The Mountain Meadows Massacre documentary. Another is the poster we talked about for the play Facing East.

Activity Description
Determine your topic or issue, design your metaphor or visual representation, and create an image that communicates your intended message. Post an account of your efforts on your blog, ending with the image you created.

This assignment is due March 30th.

Value:100 Points

Rubric
1. The shooter researched the editorial topic/issue at hand and explored a number of ways to illustrate it, journaling their efforts on their post.

Wanting (0-9) Developing (10-16) Accomplished (17-20)

2. The shooter considered design approaches including composition, lighting, depth of field and focal length, posting their approach on the blog.

Wanting (0-9) Developing (10-16) Accomplished (17-20)

3. The shooter addressed their consideration of physical, psychological, social, cultural and temporal contexts in the design of their image, writing on their post about how each is executed.

Wanting (0-9) Developing (10-16) Accomplished (17-20)

4. The shooter creates an image, illustrative of the communication objective of the design.

Wanting (0-19) Developing (20-34) Accomplished (35-40)

Last Day in the Studio

We are meeting in Studio C today to finish your portrait assignment using glamor lighting. See you there.

-e

Wednesday's Lab

Looks like you've had a lot of fun in the studio, for the most part. What I'm seeing are poses and candids without the finesse of modeling using key and fill exposures to create proper Rembrandts with long loop shadows and triangle highlights. Keep in mind, as well, that Glamor lighting, while it's attractive and easy, doesn't lend itself to every face type.

I'm also looking for perfection in both exposure and clarity. You all have devices that allow you this level of perfection, use them, use power and tools accordingly. I'm not seeing this, yet.

So, for Wednesday, I'm posting this assignment to get you beyond the fun of working in three-point lighting, challenging you to create work that falls into professional paradigms:

You're to complete the assignment of creating a portrait using three-point lighting to create a Rembrandt and a glamor image. You can find the rubric here.

One aspect of the rubric is to demonstrate your use of the inverse square law. Read about that here in preparation for  Wednesday's lab in the studio.

The Inverse Square Law

Please read for preparation for Wednesday's lab in the studio. 

(from Explore Photography)
As photographers and therefore visual artists, many people find themselves shying away from the more technical side of the discipline.

While there are large numbers of camera enthusiasts who take great pride in their knowledge of the ins and outs of every conceivable piece of photographic equipment, there are far more photographers who prefer simply to get on and take some photos. In order to become an expert in what you do, however, it is sadly necessary to have some grip on the ‘rules’ of photography.

Studio and flash lighting can be very difficult for the first-time experimenter. If you are used to shooting in natural light and making do with what is available then the new options that will open up to you in the studio may seem daunting. However, they are there to be harnessed and used for your benefit. In order to help you do this successfully, it is useful to know about the ‘inverse square law’.

Practicalities

The inverse square is commonplace in physics and mathematics; this article, of course, will concentrate not on the technicalities but on its practical application in photography. In very basic terms, when applied to lighting the inverse square law states that an object twice the distance from a light source will receive only a quarter of the light. Thus, if you had two objects, one of which is six feet from a light source and the other of which is twelve feet from it, the object twelve feet away will receive only a quarter of the light being received by the object six feet away.

It is a common misconception that moving an object twice as far from the light source will halve the available light. Instead, the inverse square law explains why light ‘falloff’ occurs so rapidly. This can be seen very dramatically with on-camera flash; if you are using a non-directional light source then you will notice that objects in the foreground of your images will be much more highly exposed than those further back. This is because the light spreads and diffuses in three dimensions, rather than simply in a straight line away from the source.

F-stops

In the studio, the inverse square law can be very easily applied. Most studio lights have adjustable power settings, usually found on a panel on the back of the light. These settings tend to be expressed as fractions (one quarter, one half etc) which match f-stops on your camera. Thus, if you need to move your subject further back from the light source, you can increase the power of the light by adjusting the settings.
Alternatively, it is also possible to compensate on your camera. Just as the light source can be adjusted in terms of f-stops, so too can the exposure being made. Widening the aperture by two f-stops will have the same effect as increasing the power from the light source by one quarter, and should therefore give you the same exposure as would be made if your subject was half the distance away from the light.