Shadowland and depth of field…

Unit 1: The camera - film or digital
Task 1: Shadow and depth of field
 

Michael Freeman

 

"One of the most widely published photographers worldwide, Michael Freeman has worked for most major international magazine and book publishers in a long career. An MA in Geography at Oxford, which included Anthropology, set the course of his reportage work, much of which has focused on Asia, including extended studies of cultures such as the Akha and Pathan, while a few years in advertising straight after university inspired a very different specialisation in studio still-life.

A leading photographer for the Smithsonian Magazine for three decades (more than 40 assignment stories), Freeman has also published 147 books on subjects as varied as Angkor, Sudan, ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia, the Shakers, and contemporary Japanese design and architecture. His 67 books on the practice of photography are standard works, and have sold over 3 million copies in more than 20 languages (4 million for all his books). London-based, Freeman travels for half of each year on shooting assignments, principally in Asia."

Michael Freeman counts 10 different types of shadows which they have their own purpose and needs.

1. Basic Rich-  Most of the image is dark (about 75%-90%). Lots of your shots will be this type especially if you are shooting at night.

2. Backdrop –  The photo will have a hard black background that frames the objects.

3. Receding – The shadows recede from the centre light out to the edges. This technique makes the centre part of the shot emerge out from the dark, highlighting it’s importance.

4. Volumetric –  Produced by side lighting that gives a beautiful soft edge to the corners also adds a three dimensional perspective.

5. Reflective – shadow that at an acute angle to the camera in the view that goes toward a brightly lit area. So what you see are reflections of the brightness beyond. This shadow need its range stretched and processing is quite usual for this type of shadows enhanced by lifting the white point

6. Open –  These types of shadows are very light, most of our shots are like these.

7. Smooth graded – smooth transition without shadow edges from the lit parts of the scene towards darker but not necessarily black

8. Chiaroscuro – origininally from Italy (light-dark), is a dramatic use of shadows with black bold shapes and patterns. Artist as Rembrandt or Goya are known for using this technique.

9. Cast shape –  Is what we generally call casting a shadow. The shape of the object is projected on to a light background and there are two types:

TYPE 1

In this shot only the man in the hat’s shadow is shown. Not the man.

TYPE 2

In this shot the Holy cow and the shadows are shown.

10. Silhouette – it is the reverse view from a cast shape its mirror image; the simpler brighter background the more readable and effective the silhouette. Silhouettes need to be very deep, even black and the smaller they are the blacker need to be.

I shot the following photos and labeled them according to Michael Freeman’s guide of shadows.

Cast shape

 

Canon EOS 250D 1/250s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 23mm

I took this shot at the link bridge in Bentalls, Kingston upon Thames. The shape of the bridge is projected on the ground by the light source, in this case by the sun. The shadows on the floor have hard lines and the straight lines on the floor guide your eyes torwards the black center of the photography.

 

Silhouette

Canon EOS 250D 1/200s, f/5.6, ISO 6400, 55mm

I took this photo while I was on a break during a zoom class. The view is from my bedroom window and you can see the Courts buildings in Kingston upon Thames. In this photography the light comes from the sky (it was sunset). To get this type of effect I focused on the sky to catch the colours and to blackout the building. Making that I manage to capture the diffrent shades of pink the sky had and to show the silhouette of the court building.