Table of Contents
What is Sky-light
The success of the picture comes from the skillful use of light by lighting engineers and photographers. And all the lighting comes from nature. Sunlight and sky-light, photographers occasionally intervene in the environment to reflect light. The skillful use of the photographer is completely familiar with the law of light and modeling. This is not difficult, especially for the natural light illumination. Outdoor natural light in daytime is directly or indirectly from the sun. In cloudy weather, the direct illumination of sunlight is combined with the scattered light of cloud layer, and in rainy day, the indirect illumination is all. Indirect sunlight is generally called sky-light. Different weather lighting modeling effect is different, the reason lies in the proportion of sunlight and sky-light.
the Importance of Natural Light on Photography
In cloudless sunny days, the light is completely from the direct sunlight. According to the logical analysis, the modeling effect is that the illumination angle is concentrated, and the brightness difference between the light receiving surface and the shadow surface is very large.
But in fact, it can not be generalized. For example, in the morning and dusk, the sun appears soft and warm; in the afternoon or near noon, the sun presents the above reasoning shape. Our shooting is in an ordinary residential area in Beveley Hill, Los Angeles. The air quality and light in Beveley are not good. During the shooting process, we encountered many problems, such as the weak light in the morning and the foggy air.
In the actor’s play in the morning, due to the lack of natural light, we want to express the mild picture in the morning, which is emphasized the effect of light on photographic images. Use the camera to show the atmosphere of sunrise and sunset, avoid correcting the white balance, use the sunlight white balance to restore the yellow tone.
In addition to blocking short wave light, air medium also plays a role in softening light. The sun in the morning and evening is not as dazzling as noon. Under its illumination, the contrast between the light and dark side of the subject is soft, and the dark side is not as black as noon.
In general, it is the best lighting in the film shooting that does not deliberately emphasize the noon atmosphere. Lighting is the task of the lighting master, but capturing the light to shape the film is a must for the photographer.
The light of cloudy weather is a combination of direct sunlight and indirect sky light. Their proportion is closely related to the thickness of clouds and the distance between clouds and the sun. The thicker the clouds are and the closer they are to the sun, the smaller the ratio of sunlight to skylight. Sunlight is the main lighting source, which determines the illumination of the light receiving surface, that is, the bright surface. The sky-light has high scattering degree and disordered directivity, which can provide auxiliary lighting for the shadow and balance the contrast of the picture. What the photographer should do is to observe the light dark ratio of the subject before the official shooting.
Most of us are indoor plays. The cloudy weather and the haze in Shijiazhuang have a great impact on the indoor light. The light is not warm enough when we get up in the morning, and it is not bright enough during the day. However, such an environment is also a good test for photographers.
In fact, it’s not a logical point of view to shoot from a cloudy day, but it’s only necessary to consider the composition. The fully uniform exposure of the picture will make the two-dimensional planarization serious. Generally speaking, there is no three-dimensional sense in the picture. Close to photography, setting the foreground can create a three-dimensional effect through the perspective law of near big far small, but this one is far from enough.
The three-dimensional sense of the picture also needs to be created by the ratio of light to dark light. For example, a person’s face will be fat if the light is completely uniform, and the appropriate shadow will look thinner. In a cloudy day with uniform illumination, the photographer should try to reduce the light on some of the faces to be photographed, so as to create a proper light ratio, so that the picture does not fall into the flat. Let the subject close to the dark environment, dark environment due to poor reflective performance, forming a light absorption plate in photography. The contrast is easily created. When the female is the main body of the picture, the dark background can also better set off the color of the characters and make them white.
The cloudy sky lacks elements and is much brighter than the ground landscape. When shooting, too much blank will cause severe damage to the picture. In cloudy days, the sky should be included in the picture as little as possible. We all have a common sense that on cloudy days, the color of the scenery will be dim due to the heavy proportion of scattered light.
This can only be done from the color aspect when manipulating the picture and modeling the characters, and try to choose the bright color of the clothing. It seems that cloudy day has few advantages, but it is not necessarily. The biggest advantage of cloudy day is that it can shoot as long as the light is enough. However, compared with sunny day with strong light, its picture is visually low.
The meaning of light for interior shooting
Different from location shooting, interior shooting has one main principle: during shooting interior with available light, make all kinds of light for your own use.
This principle applies to all places and times, not just interiors. Don’t fight against the light. Make full use of all kinds of light sources in the surrounding environment. Don’t trouble yourself. Control the light by opening the shutters and curtains. Windows can be opened or closed. If it’s all like this, the window will have a soft light effect.
Make the most of the lights around you (desk lamp, head light, monitor or TV screen). The lamp is good! The light efficiency is almost the same, but there is still a lack of light. Maybe at night, the windows can’t be used.
The available light source is not only sunlight, but also artificial light, such as lamp or TV screen, which is often necessary to shoot indoor night scenes. For example, in our film, there is a scene where the hero is in a trance watching TV, and the atmosphere created by the screen is the best. Aim at the person, illuminate the computer and the face of the person, simple and efficient.
If the light is too hard, use the reflector to reflect it! If not, use the wall to direct the light to the wall. If the light is strong enough, the reflected light will be softer. In a word, we should be resourceful, flexible and make the best use of light.
“Light gives me creative shapes and scripts, and that’s why I’m a photographer,” says Barbara Morgan. Because without light, there will be no photographic art. Without light, even if we have good equipment and ideas, we can’t see the results. Imagination is like the wings of a bird, and light is the wind that holds them up.