Thursday, February 12, 2015

Side-lighting a Country Morning (Be Still 52 #5)

Side lighting with white reflector
This week's lesson in the Be Still 52 still life photography class is about different types of side-lighting. I set up a a still life I call "Country Morning" featuring meyer lemons from our tree, a few eggs from our backyard hens, an old ceramic rooster and birdhouse I keep in the kitchen. I hung a tablecloth on the wall for a backdrop and used a small wooden table as the base. The light is coming in from the right through a west facing glass door. I then experimented with a variety of different types of lighting. My favorite result is up top, side lighting with a white reflector. For all these, I cropped them but did no corrections. 
Basic side lighting
Side lighting with black reflector
Side lighting with silver reflector
Diffuse lighting with white reflector
The differences in lighting are not that dramatic, but I do like the effects of using my reflectors and this is a good reminder to pull them out and use them more often. You can see the effects a bit more if you click on the photographs to enlarge the images. Tomorrow, I'm going to post a new version of Country Morning, where I did some post-production work to get the image to where I really like it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like seeing the subtle difference. Great composition.

Tasha Miller Photography said...

You did use lemons too! I only wish I could reach for some in my own back yard ;) Here, we have 3 feet of snow, lol.

Cute set up...cheery!

Blessings, Tasha

Anonymous said...

Yes, more lemons! Great minds think alike, eh? I think I like the basic shot the best. :)

alexa said...

I'm looking forward to seeing your 'post=production' too - that sounds very grand! I just love the sound of your home, with lemons and eggs for the taking. Idyllic ...

Karen said...

Love the combination of items in this one, and would I ever love to have a lemon tree!

Sian said...

I love the combination of things in this: it would make a great postcard for Spring...

..which prompts me to thank you for the card which arrived here. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Very subtle differences but I agree with you that the white reflector is the nicest. What a gorgeous looking birdhouse btw and how great to have your own lemons and eggs.