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***OPEN CHALLENGE#19 - Creative Use of (Artificial) Lighting***

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Rob Kircher

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Well folks I guess it has fallen to me to run the next challenge so here we go.

Creative Use of (Artificial) Lighting

In the spirit of my entry for the Abandoned challenge what I’d like to see is your best use of creative lighting. The more creative the better. Note the word Artificial; the more use of your own lighting the better but creative use of natural lighting is also fine. However, I’m not interested in seeing spectacular sunsets (nature’s use of lighting ;-). I’m more interested in how you used the light creatively to capture your image. Same holds for portraits and still life photos. They maybe very well lit but if they’re not creative they won’t rank very high in the judging.

The overall point is not to capture creative light but to be creative with that light.

To help judge these images, I’d also like to request a short description of how you set things up and/or why you used the light the way you did. Your thought process if you will. This will be helpful two ways. First, it will help me determine the level of creativity used in capturing your image and two it will help others expand their use of lighting. I know shooting parameters are supposed to be a part of every submission but they are rarely included. In this case a description will be important to the judging so please don’t forget to include them.

It’s my hope that this will generate some real creative work and be as fun for everyone as my last project was for me.

Some samples

Done on my coffee table. Model car on black illistration board. White board for back drop. Flash with red gel on floor fired up at white backdrop.



Lit by flash with blue gel from above . Fired remtely with ST-E2



A couple of examples of creative use of natural light.





Maybe not a great photo but a good example of what I'm looking for and it shows that you don't need fancy lights and gels.

This was done by shooting my flash though a glass of coke that was sitting on the table.



And finaly another one from my Abandon series



I'm certian there are much much better examples out there so lets see them.

The contest will end on Aug 11 at noon EST. That's 15 days from now.

Rules to follow.

--



Rob Kircher
My Stuff: http://www.rrkphotos.com
http://www.pbase.com/rkircher
 
  1. #################
REMEMBER: The contest will end on Aug 11 at noon EST. That's 15 days from now.

1. Any camera brand may be used to take the image.
2. One image per person only.
3. Reply to the MAIN thread when posting your image.

4. Change the subject of the post to display your image title. This way, when someone comments on your image, it will read your photo's title.

5. If you wish to receive comments and critique on your photo, please post '(CC)' next to the title of your image [e.g. 'Sunshine smile (CC)']

6. Please list basic image attributes like your camera, lense, aperture, shutter speed and ISO along some possible comment of your image.

7. Embed your image in the thread and resize them to a more manageable size (ca. 900 pixels on the longest side) to avoid image scrolling. See instructions for betting an image below.

8. The host of the challenge is not eligible.

9. The host of the challenge chooses the winner and his or her decision is final.

10. The host should post the results of the challenge at the end of the same thread. This helps to keep the challenge and the result together.

11. The host needs to announce a winner within 72 hours of the closing date of the challenge.

12. The winner of the challenge chooses the next challenge topic. If the winner fails to post a new challenge within 72 hours of being declared the winner, the runner-up should post the new challenge within a further 24 hours.

13. Last, but not least, have fun!

Instructions for embedding images in your post:
  1. ############################
Basically putting http: your-hosting-site/ your-photo.jpg (without the spaces) will show your photo here. This means you can:

1. While your photo on Pbase (or any other web site) is open, copy the URL address from the address box on your tool bar, then paste it into your reply thread. Add a .jpg extension to get the photo to show up. Click on PREVIEW to make sure it's what you want.

or

2. Right click on the image in Pbase (or where ever you've hosted it), click on "Properties"... highlight the link with the .jpg extension on it and paste it into your message text.

Previous open challenges:
  1. ###############
  1. 1 Joy:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=24286710
  1. 2 People at work:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=24478319
  1. 3 Escape:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=24697635
  1. 4 Me, myself and I:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=24865587
  1. 5 Games:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=25047246
  1. 6 It is finished:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=25239761
  1. 7 Friendship:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=25554722
  1. 8 Holiday warmth:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=25740595
  1. 9 Party time:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=26205864
  1. 10 Aspects of Light:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=26335232
  1. 11 Planes Trains and Automobiles
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=26601877
  1. 12: Sports
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=26962693
  1. 13 Parades
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=27264492
  1. 14 Spring awakening
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=27540959
  1. 15 A Different Perspective
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=27825192
  1. 16 Something in the way
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=28139541
  1. 17 The Road Less Traveled
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=28309864
  1. 18 Abandoned
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=28483389

Good luck to all!
 
For jumping in and doing this. Normally I visit daily, but work kept me off the web since Friday morning.

You picked a great subject!
--
Steve

 
Rob, great subject!

This is a shot of one of my Crystal Liquor Decanters; this one is filled with an Italian Anisette (black licorice liquor) which is mostly clear in color. I set the bottle and glasses atop a Pyrex baking dish on my kitchen counter top.

I then placed a Black Light behind them so that the pyrex would channel the light much like a fiberoptic cable would and turned off the lights so that the Black Light was the only light source. From there it was trial and error to get the exposure how you see it here, I was going for a real "out of this world" vibe.


Rob Kircher said:
Well folks I guess it has fallen to me to run the next challenge so
here we go.

Creative Use of (Artificial) Lighting
Click to expand...
--



http://www.meucciphotographic.com
 
Great image Todd. However what exactly is "Black Light"?

Well. The topic (good one though) is kind of about special effects. Let us hope entries are not too less this time.
--
Best Wishes, Ajay
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612
Thanks for your time.
 
Thanks ajay!

A "Black Light" is a special type of light that is a deep Purple in color. It is used to make flourescent colors glow in the dark. It casts a very cool and eerie light from the dark purple flourescent tube. They also come in bulb form but are not as effective.

Side note: Police now use them to detect blood at crime scenes, used in conjunction with orange plastic eye glasses and a substance called Luminol which causes blood to phosphoresce.

They were first popular I believe in the 70's with the younger crowd and certain art posters, often of musical acts and musicians, which would glow in the dark when the lights were out and the black light was on.

I'm not sure if it's just an American thing or not.
ajay0612 said:
Great image Todd. However what exactly is "Black Light"?
Well. The topic (good one though) is kind of about special effects.
Let us hope entries are not too less this time.
--
Best Wishes, Ajay
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612
Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
 
ajay0612 said:
Great image Todd. However what exactly is "Black Light"?
Well. The topic (good one though) is kind of about special effects.
Click to expand...
Ajay the challenge is about using light creatively not special effects. You can use any light you have available to you as long as you use it creatively. You'd be surprised all the things that can be used to defuse you flash for example and the cool results you can achieve.

It may just take a bit more thinking but I hope we pull in a good number of submissions.

--



Rob Kircher
My Stuff: http://www.rrkphotos.com
http://www.pbase.com/rkircher
 
figured i should make my own entry this time. cool subject i love playing with light.

an older picture taken about 4 years ago. story behind this, a young 3 toed woodpecker drowned in our pond. they were turned into a mummy in their burial box. morbidly i found it rather beautiful, placed in on a light table. toned the pic in post.
fuji s7000 Shutter Speed: 1/3 second, F/8.0, ISO: 200

 
When we had a bonfire on the moonlit beach, my son thought it would be cool to see what happened if he threw some firecrackers into the fire. I thought about this, then said "ok, but you have to wait until I get my camera set up". I figured that settings similar to what I use for fireworks might be good, except I opened the aperture a couple more stops and increased the ISO to add a bit more ambient light, then set a manual exposure of 4 secs at f/8 and ISO 400.

With visions of fireworks in my head, I was disappointed after the first shot didn't look much different than without the firecrackers. But I got lucky on the second try when the explosion tossed an ember about 6 ft into the air, which then came tumbling towards me on the ocean breeze (I was about 15 ft downwind from the fire), falling below and to the left of the camera just before the shutter closed. My son said "Awesome!", and I was just happy to have escaped injury...



I was surprised and amazed at my luck though (to get the shot and still have my hair, clothes, and camera intact), so after just two shots I just packed up and left figuring I should probably not try this again and would probably never be able to get anything better anyway. My lesson learned was that you can't always control or plan everything, and sometimes you just get lucky, but if you never try, then you won't capture anything. In any case, I was happy with this shot which made an interesting abstract print.

I realize the moonlight part of this shot is not artificial light, but I figure the embers were manmade and not from a forest fire and were set in motion by firecrackers, so they could be considered an "artificial" light source. ;o)
 
C'mon folks I know there are more out there. Hopefully everyone is out being creative and there is a flood of images on the way. ;-)

As you can see by the few posted so far it really doesn't tall all that much and remember the story/setup counts just about as much as the image itself.

Here's another sample that I've posted in the past.



This was done a few Christmas' ago. All I did was tape a standard window candle light to the edge of a table and then have my daughter cup her hands around the light and look just slightly past it. I shot with my 20D and 50 1/8 adjusting the shutter until I exposed just enough light to give me the affect.

Let the creative juices flow...

--



Rob Kircher
My Stuff: http://www.rrkphotos.com
http://www.pbase.com/rkircher
 
Thanks Todd and Rob

Yes. It requires a bit more thinking and also is a great learning opportunity. I will try and submit my entry before the end. Afterall photography is all about "using light creatively".

Suggestion: Please post a link to this post in some other forums (Open Forum, Canon/Nikon/Sony forum) for better visibility. I posted one in Lighting Technique Forum).
Rob Kircher said:
ajay0612 said:
Great image Todd. However what exactly is "Black Light"?
Well. The topic (good one though) is kind of about special effects.
Click to expand...
Ajay the challenge is about using light creatively not special
effects. You can use any light you have available to you as long as
you use it creatively. You'd be surprised all the things that can
be used to defuse you flash for example and the cool results you can
achieve.

It may just take a bit more thinking but I hope we pull in a good
number of submissions.

--



Rob Kircher
My Stuff: http://www.rrkphotos.com
http://www.pbase.com/rkircher
Click to expand...
--
Best Wishes, Ajay
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612
Thanks for your time.
 
Not link to "this post" but "this thread". Typo error :-)
ajay0612 said:
Suggestion: Please post a link to this post in some other forums
(Open Forum, Canon/Nikon/Sony forum) for better visibility. I posted
one in Lighting Technique Forum).
Click to expand...
 
Rob Kircher-san and all of challengers :

I would like to respond 'how you used the light creatively to capture your image' and I have selected one image which I presented before at this forum.

Fireworks are seasonal main events at summer of Japan islands at every cities. This Kumamoto castle has history of 400 years and symbolic architecture of my home town. I aimed to make a image Kumamoto castle decollated with fire works. Indeed fireworks were launched from backyards of the castle, so I CREATED the image of mine by using photoshop.....
HAMADA



--
*
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for looking.
*



HAMADA from Kumamoto Japan
http://homepage3.nifty.com/railroad/
The guest book and blog restarted
http://railroadjapan.way-nifty.com/railroadjapan/
 
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