Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

301 Pages·2011·13.22 MB·English

by  Fil Hunter, Paul Fuqua

Light Science & Magic
Fourth Edition
An Introduction to Photographic Lighting A {
Fil Hunter Steven Biver Paul Fuqua
Light—Science & Magic Fourth Edition Light— Science & Magic An
Introduction to Photographic Lighting Fourth Edition Fil Hunter Steven Biver Paul Fuqua Amsterdam •
Boston • Heidelberg • London New York • Oxford • Paris • San Diego San Francisco • Singapore • Sydney • Tokyo
©
Focal Press
ELSEVIER
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© 2012 Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua. Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research
methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or
experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom
they have a professional responsibility.
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material herein.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hunter, Fil.
Light—science & magic / Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua. —4th ed. p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-240-81225-0
1. Photography—Lighting. I. Fuqua, Paul. II. Biver, Steven. III. Title.
TR590.H84 2011 778.7'2—dc23
2011018511
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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ELSEVIER Sabre Foundation Introduction It gives us, your authors, great pleasure to welcome you to this
new edition. We would also like to thank you for all the support you have shown for Light—Science & Magic over the
past near quarter of a century. We sincerely appreciate it.
Since our previous edition, the photographer's world—and everybody else's—has changed radically. Long established
markets, relationships, and business models have shrunk, if not completely collapsed. Once valued skill sets have been
rendered useless, and the fees clients are willing to pay have been reduced in every market sector. All in all, it’s fair to say
that not all things are rosy in today's stressed-out image-making world.
There is, however, also a good—a very good—side to things. While it is true that on the one hand we photographers may
be challenged as perhaps never before, it is also true that over the past several years manufacturers have swamped us with
a seemingly endless flood of truly amazing gear. New generations of cameras, lighting gear, high-resolution printers, and
sophisticated software have revolutionized how we work and how we think.
Today, it is commonplace for us to do that of which we could not even dream those few years ago when the previous
edition of this book rolled off the presses. And so it goes. In some ways we are worse off than we once were. In others, we
are better off.
And then there is light—the collective result of all those busy little photons that buzz around the universe as they have
since its creation. Light is everything for us. Light is, always has been, and always will be the very foundation of that
amazing amalgamation of art and science we call photography. And now, thanks to your continued support, there is this,
the newest edition of Light—Science & Magic. Our greatest hope for it is that it will, like earlier editions, help students to
understand how light behaves, and always will. Armed with these timeless principles, one is ready to do battle—and
thoroughly enjoy it—in this new and crazy world of picture making.
1
2
3
Try a Lens Polarizing Filter
5
6
Dark-Field Lighting
8
Portable Flash with Motion
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10
1
How to Learn Lighting
Light—Science & Magic is a discussion, not a lecture. You bring to this discussion your own opinions about art, beauty,
and aesthetics. We do not intend to change those opinions and may not even influence them very much. We will be more
bored than flattered if reading this book causes you to make pictures that look like ours. For better or worse, you have to
build your own pictures on your own vision.
What we do have to offer you is a set of tools. This book is about technology. Science. Brass tacks. It is information for
you to use when you please, if you please, and how you please. This does not, however, mean that this book is not about
ideas, because it is. The basic tools of lighting are principles, not hardware. Shakespeare's tool was the Elizabethan English
language, not a quill pen. A photographer without mastery of lighting is like a Shakespeare who could speak only the
language of the people in the Globe Theatre pit. Being Shakespeare, he still might have come up with a decent play, but it
certainly would have taken a lot more work and, very likely, more blind luck than most people are entitled to expect.
Lighting is the language of photography. Patterns of light convey information just as surely as spoken words. The
information that light conveys is clear and specific. It includes definite statements, such as “The bark of this tree is rough”
or “This utensil is made of stainless steel, but that one is sterling.”
Lighting, like any other language, has a grammar and a vocabulary. Good photographers need to learn that grammar and
vocabulary. Fortunately, photographic lighting is a lot easier to master than a foreign language. This is because physics,
not social whim, makes the rules.
The tools we have included in this book are the grammar and vocabulary of light. Whatever we say about specific
technique is important only to the extent that it proves the principles. Please, do not memorize the lighting diagrams in this
book. It is entirely possible to put a light in exactly the same spot shown in the diagram and still make a bad picture—
especially if the subject is not identical to the one in the diagram. But if you learn the principle, you may see several other
good ways to light the same subject that we never mention and maybe never thought of.
WHAT ARE “THE PRINCIPLES”?
To photographers, the important principles of light are those that predict how it will behave. Some of these principles are
especially powerful. You will probably be surprised to find how few they are, how simple they are to learn, and how much
they explain.
We discuss these key principles in detail in Chapters 2 and 3. They are the tools we use for everything else. In later
chapters we put them to work to light a wide range of subjects. At this point we will simply list them:
1. The effective size of the light source is the single most important decision in lighting a photograph. It determines what
types of shadows are produced and may affect the type of reflection.
2. Three types of reflections are possible from any surface. They determine why any surface looks the way it does.
3. Some of these reflections occur only if light strikes the surface from within a limited family of angles. After we decide
what type of reflection is important, the family of angles determines where the light should or should not be.
Just think about that for a minute. If you think lighting is an art, you're exactly right—but it's also a technology that even a
bad artist can learn to do well. These are the most important concepts in this book. If you pay close attention to them
whenever they come up, you will find they will usually account for any other details you may overlook or we forget to
mention.
WHY ARE THE PRINCIPLES IMPORTANT?
The three principles we have just given are statements of physical laws that have not changed since the beginning of the
universe. They have nothing to do with style, taste, or fad. The timelessness of these principles is exactly what makes them
so useful. Consider, for example, how they apply to portrait style. A representative 1952 portrait does not look like most
portraits made in 1852 or 2012. However, and this is the important point, a photographer who understands light could
execute any of them.
Chapter 8 shows some useful approaches to lighting a portrait. But some photographers will not want to do it that way, and
even fewer will do so in 20 years. We do not care whether or not you use the method of portrait lighting we chose to
demonstrate. We do, however, care very much that you understand exactly how and why we did what we did. It is the
answers to those very “hows” and “whys” that will allow you to produce your own pictures your own way. Good tools do
not limit creative freedom. They make it possible.
Good photographs take planning, and lighting is an essential part of that planning. For this reason, the most important part
of good lighting happens before we turn on the first lights. This planning can take many days or it can happen a fraction of
a second before pressing the shutter release. It does not matter when you plan or how long it takes, as long as you get the
planning done. The more you accomplish with your head, the less work you have to do with your hands—you can think
faster than you can move.
Understanding the principles we presented earlier enables us to decide what lights need to be where before we begin to
place them. This is the important part. The rest is just fine-tuning.
HOW DID WE CHOOSE THE EXAMPLES FOR THIS BOOK?
The portrait is but one of the seven basic photographic subjects we discuss. We chose each subject to prove something
about the basic principles. We also lit the subject to show the principle, regardless of whether there might be other good
ways to light the same thing. If you know the principles, you will discover the other ways without any help from us.
This means that you should give at least some attention to every representative subject. Even if you have no interest in a
particular subject, it probably relates to something you do want to photograph.
We also chose some of the subjects because they are rumored to be difficult. Such rumors are spread usually by people
who lack the tools to deal with such subjects. This book dispels the rumors by giving you those tools.
In addition, we tried to use studio examples whenever possible. This does not mean Light—Science & Magic is only about
studio lighting. Far from it! Light behaves the same way everywhere, whether it is
controlled by the photographer, by the building designer, or by God. But you can set up indoor experiments like ours at
any hour of any day regardless of the weather. Later, when you use the same lighting in a landscape, on a public building,
or at a press conference, you will recognize it because you will have seen it before.
Finally, we chose each example to be as simple as possible. If you are learning photography, you will not have to leave the
setup in your living room or in your employer's studio for days at a time to master it. If you teach photography, you will
find that you can do any of these demonstrations in a single class session.
How We Created the Cover
Before the publishing of this fourth edition of Light—Science & Magic, several of those who saw its cover asked how our co-author, Steven Biver,
made it (Figure 1.1). With that in mind, we offer the following explanation:
The basic setup. The first thing that Steven did was to place a sheet of glossy black Plexiglas on his studio table (Figure 1.2). Next, he suspended
frosted diffusion material above it as shown in the diagram. (This could have been done in any number of ways. Steven chose to
1.1 This is the cover image without the type.
1.2 Lighting Diagram For Cover Image
clamp it to the back of the table and attach it to a bar suspended between two stands at the front.)
The lights. Once he had the table and diffuser arranged, Steven set up the two lights he planned on using. The first, his main light, was a flash head
fitted with a small reflector to which he attached an amber gel. He then secured this light to a boom and suspended it over the center of the diffusion
material, and about 1.5 feet above it. Next, Steven fitted a small reflector with a tight grid to which he attached a purple gel. He then put this head on
a small stand and placed it close to and camera left of his camera.
The “pose."The arrangement of the clear acrylic balls on the black was very much a work in progress. Because the balls tended to roll off the table
at inappropriate moments, Steven resorted to holding each in place with a tiny bit of wax. Later, during postproduction, he digitally “airbrushed”
away any of these that showed.
The results. When Steven made his exposures, the amber-colored main light produced a soft, circular glow in the middle of his composition. The
grid spot at the front of his setup produced the small purple highlights on all the acrylic balls. In addition, because of refraction, both lights
produced even smaller secondary highlights on all the balls.
And finally. This was an interesting shot to make. We encourage any of you who might be interested to try making a similar image. A quick check
online will provide plenty of sources for the kinds of Plexiglas sheeting, diffusion material, and acrylic balls Steven used.
We would love to see the results of your efforts. So would plenty of other photographers. And that’s what the Light—Science & Magic site on Flickr is
all about. So go ahead and post your work. Become a member of the “family.”
TO DO, OR NOT TO DO?
If you are learning photography without any formal instruction, we suggest you try all of the basic examples in this book.
Do not simply read about them. What happens in your head is the most important part of lighting, but the eye and the hand
are still essential. Guided experience coordinates the three.
When we talk about soft shadows or polarized direct reflections, for example, you already know how they look. They
happen in the world, and you see them every day. But you will know them and see them still better once you have made
them happen.
If you are a student, your class assignments will keep you busy enough without any further demands from us. Your teacher
may use the exercises here or invent new ones. Either way, you will learn the principles in the book because they are basic.
They happen in all lighting situations.
If you are a professional photographer trying to expand your areas of expertise, your judgment about what exercises you
need is better than ours. Generally, these will be those that are least like the things you are already photographing. You
may find our basic examples to be too simple to be an entertaining challenge. Try complicating things a bit. Add an
unexpected prop, an unusual viewpoint, or a special effect to our basic example. You might as well get a striking portfolio
piece out of the effort while you are at it.
If you are a teacher, you can look at this book and see that most of the exercises show at least one good, simple, easy-to-
master way to light even those subjects with reputations for maximum difficulty: metal, glass, white on white, and black
on black.
Notice, however, that although we've done this in almost every case, we weren't able to do it in absolutely every one of
them. The “invisible light” exercise in Chapter 6, for example, is pretty difficult for most beginners. Some students may
also find the secondary background behind the glass of liquid in Chapter 7 to be beyond the limit of their patience. For this
reason, if you find anything in this book that you haven't already done with your own hands and eyes, we strongly
encourage you to be sure to try it yourself before deciding whether it is appropriate to the skills of your students.