VISUAL CREATIVITY

THERE IS PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND EVERY PICTURE. What satisfies me may not satisfy other person. Therefore the question is legitimate? Where does the visual creativity come from? This being an almost unanswerable question and nobody has yet explained and the reply does not emanate from the camera itself. The reason may be we are too impatient and distracted...We do not wish to give enough time for the factual assessment of the picture. Photography is enriched with all around objects concerned with light and form, textural pattern and interplay of colours. U are a photographer. there it needs that u deeply involve and bring out the possible and impossible.
In the adjacent picture u will find interplay of not many colours,but form,and texture. It is an intentional proposition.

VIEW LIGHT BEFORE CLICKING.

Here in the position of the car, the light is low because of clouds and adjacent trees...Yes low lighting is tricky and challenging. U need to apply all ur understanding to find out the right exposure without missing ur subject from clicking..U may encounter low light situations when photographing cityscapes in the evening, during rains with heavy clouds or in dusk and night time. Besides this may happen in private lowlit parties and events....THE LIGHT WILL NEED BIGGER APERTURE to allow maximum of light to pass thru camera to sensor....If this does not work and u get still underexposed photos, try to decrease the shutter speed to low which because of dull light, may be at lower side. Here, u will require a tripod. the most essential help in trouble....The other thing remains to satiate ur desire to capture the low light photograph, is to increase the ISO setting on the camera...This will increase chances of u getting more slower shutter speed for perfect exposures....therefore u can come home with some good stuff....In the photo of the car above, i used evaluative metering which read most of the light falling on the car body, then i did one stop minus exposure compensation to have subdued whites.

VISUALISE IMAGES BEFORE U CLICKS.

Many photographers in enthusiasm or mesmerised by the digital camera start shooting randomly..Not a single shot will be worth the viewing, only because of so many or unnecessary elements and otherwise going idle in composing the picture either in the LCD panel or viewfinder...Result? They feel dismayed....WHY? Only some of your brain skill, which is already in you, may help a lot with some carefulness. Here I wuld like to emphasise that pl learn to see your shot without having to look through your camera's viewfinder or LCD. You shd use your hands to make a virtual viewfinder frame and see your scene through it (like a film director). This will pave way for you to understand composition, position of lighting, selecting or removing unnecessary objects from ur ultimate image. These are the basic steps. If you wish to go ahead, there are several branches of photography, which will entertain you or help you to be a professional photographer earning livelihood from your camera, as I did.
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MONSOON ENTERS--BE PREPARED.

THE RAINS JUST STARTED. I switched my ISO TO 3200...therefore a good amount of noise. Took it on manual mode at f3.5 and 1/13. The light is against the lamp-post. you can visibly see the yellow effect of an halogen lamp...the rest blue area is lighted by tubelights and was 200ft away. Therefore i got the distance in the picture. The rains were close to my gate...and it was a good downpour. The halo effect i could not get because there were tree branches near the lamp-post.

2. However one way to capture the droplets of water on a glass pane, try to include the light source like a street lamp in the background. This will show droplets more vibrant and make them stand out clearly. One easy way is to keep the light source out of focus so that the water droplets stand out clearly. Next, you can create another interesting effect by shooting the droplets as bokeh by blurring them out.

3. The lighting conditions during daytime with a good directional sunlight will capture rain effectively. The backlight plays a good role here to bring out the drops of water more clearly. Thus you can try several angles for the prominence of the rains. The sidelight will help light up raindrops partially and add a three dimentional effect to the overall picture. You can use your on camera flash to freeze the droplets during night or after it is dark...Making still life objects, freeze raindrops in closeup mode inside the room by using on/off camera flashes.....LOOK out for the perspective of your subject including with rain water. Avoid camera shakes and wrong focus, not to lose your best efforts.

AMBIENT LIGHT NEEDS FLASH TURN OFF

SOMETIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS MAY NEED TO GIVE THE AMBIENT LIGHT EFFECT to their images...the images will have a warm effect, which will look different from what anybody gets in sunlight, daylight shadows and with flash which throws light equivalent to daylight.

2. Warmer effect may depict a different mood, that is why i chose the ambient light i.e. tungsten light to lit this portrait of my daughter...The background too matches the warm effect, because i used a cream coloured walled at a distance from the subject...The effect i wanted is easily achieved.

3. Here while shooting this sort of photography, the the photographer will have to switch off his builtin or separate flash....these moody shots anybody can take in home with sufficient light by slightly increasing the ISO(generally 400 or 800 will work better without tripod or with tripod), in the parties, where flash light is not allowed or flash will mar the original effect of the hall concentrating light upto a particular distance, in the theatres, where the artists' moods are shown by their own light arrangements, on the roads or in night where again the restricted flash light will distract the overall luminance of the ambient lighting, reading under the table lamp light and shot the mood of study...there are so many like occasions where ambient light is photographers main light source....exploit it to ur best.

SEPARATING SUBJECT FROM BACKGROUND

THERE are times when the subject faces the sun from its back....the term can be called as backlighting effect, against lighting or contre-jour effect...The effect is again used as rim lighting, making a halo on the borders of the subject's body.

2. In broad sense, this can be used to define your main subject, making it stand out against, particularly, dark background....this subtle rim lighting simply defines the shape of the subject, a stronger effect can help u create a beautiful halo around it, as stated above...This adds a magical touch and can make an otherwise normal subject look extraordinary.

3. Here the monkey is well defined with the subtle backlighting effect and has its independent identity, separated from the background.

STILL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH A PUNCH--2

6. TRY TO KEEP MOVING THE LIGHT SOURCE UNTIL U GET THE MOST ATTRACTIVE EFFECT.

7. Top lighting is a very good way to start, since this resembles the natural light best.

8. The light from the source can be softened either by the use of translucent material or a tracing paper if needed...

9. Add a second or third source only if u have clearly realised the need for it.....

10. The same method can be applied using reflectors... Use it only if u need it and watch the reflections are playing on the subject.....Use them when u need light in darker areas or to separate the tones.

11. The most important is the arrangement of the subject...GEOMETRICAL patterns such as form, lines, rows and gentle curves in the subject appeal to the eye.......therefore, if u have not started still life photography, start now with the points noted above keeping in mind.

RAINY SEASON SHOOT

THIS IS A DIFFERENT ENJOYMENT from ur round the year shooting schedule. U are afraid of lenses, cameras being wet, lenses catch fungus...and lots of worries.

2. Leave them aside and find out waterfalls, flowing rivers, lakes, foliage, grass are great subject to shoot in rain...Vegetation comes alive with the rains and new leaves and shoots will have beautiful green colour.

3. The even diffused lighting from the cloudy sky only helps to enhance this. Rain also has the ability to wash dirt and dust away so u can capture the original colours of the subject, be it a tree or a building.

4. Use a polarising filter to remove any glare coming off rocks or leaves, unless u intentionally want to retain the reflections....Avoid including the sky, since an overcast sky will appear white or almost white in ur final picture without lending any depth (can do some pp work on it later on, if shot).

5. Lots of insects growup in the rains which make a good subject for macro.

PHOTOGRAPHY--PORTRAIT LIGHTING

THIS is a little bit difficult of all lightings. here u have to manage, whereas in other subjects, u have the 'ready' lighting. ur subject/client/model are more important and u have to take out the 'real' out of their personality. so u need a master's eye. this may be the difference between an average photographer and a professional photographer. here u are in full control of the 'situation', whether u shoot head, head & shoulder, bust, upto waist, knee or full length. therefore, before the client arrives, u have to keep everything 'ready' i.e. cameras, backdrops, lights and props, if possible, with an assistant, who may help in setting lights, changing backdrops, while u study the mood of the person(s), may be single, couple, child, old man/woman, or a model for portfolio. in this case, u have to allot a different time to shoot the model without any disturbance, because his/her portfolio is the first step in the world to follow.
YOU shd make the client to be at ease, all smiles, all emotions 'required'. this will help u getting to know from child to adults, and making notes in ur mind, which side of the face will be more photogenic. next ur lighting setup will be on this base. place ur main or key light in such a way that the angular half of the face is lighted, while the other half is partly in shadow. such type of lighting and shading will give a fuller and slimmer look. while shooting this ur full attention is on the person/s, rather than fiddling more with lighting equipments. read the shadow portion with photo meter to understand the ratio in comparison to the lighted portion e.g. 1/2, 1/4,and arrange lighting distance according to that, using fill-in by thermocol board. this part u can leave to ur assistant, only give hints and be ready to press the shutter release, as u composed this also in camera LCD. however, u have a second light and a light for hairs. use them if necessary. but i wud recommend to keep the hair light also ready so there is no mix up of the subject with the BG. or u can use light, in a circular tone on the BG so the subject look more independent (pose-waist-level and above)......(continue...how to use this and other lighting for ur advantage.....(gshroti@in.com)...

PHOTOGRAPHY--STUDIO LIGHTING

STUDIO LIGHTING: Studio flashes were generally used to be utilised for taking passport photographs or sometimes for a family portraits.....these photographs were not of the standard one and had very simple poses, either a tight closeup, a full length portrait or a family group photograph. .......while shooting in the studio needs to fulfill a certain criteria and that is to portray the person in best light.....however with the fashion boom in the country, people have been demanding for more out of these photographs.
Every individual needs passport size photo sometime or manytimes for use in documents....these need full lighting, showing full face in light bringing out full features to their best with a plain background.
Get the person well seated in a comfortable stool/chair. place the main light with umbrella/soft box in front of the subject slightly higher to eye level and a reflector of thermocol in front of him at chest level below ur tripod, or closure to subject with some support to throw back the light on his face, particularly to avoid dark shadows under his chin......a second light can be used to background lighting, if required.
After passport photographs, people's common choice next is a full length photo, family or group photographs. these.... are special occasions for the individual, the couple or the family who will preserve these photographs as permanent memories. ......HERE the photographer has to light up the person, couple or family well enough so as to prevent useless shadows to creep into the frame. ......a minimum of two flash units one on each side of the subject wud suffice. ....and both lights shd be placed at eye level of the tallest person in the group.
Once, he does mastery in such sort of photos and customer satisfied, he can move further for GLAMOUR portfolios, which requires some different kinds of lighting and here experimenting will teach a lot how to play with light on the models (gals or guys).......to continue.......(gshroti@in.com).