The Art of Light
The Art of Light
Eib Eibelshaeuser
Light Is Perception
Light Is Perception
Above all, we have to realize that humanity does not
shape light, but that light shapes humanity.
process surely didnt involve any manipulation of light on the part of the photographer, but the shadows produced by the
movement of the sun across the sky were
nevertheless an important and integral part
of the resulting image.
Composing with Light
The earliest photographersor perhaps we
should call them users of the photographic
mediumwere simple reproductionists
who didnt (or couldnt) compose their images. The developments made during this
early phase of photographys history lay
largely in the hands of physicists, chemists,
and well-to-do hobbyists. Today, we can use
digital technology to light a scene completely with artificial light.
A composer of photographs requires an
innate sense of lighting aesthetics, based
on our collective experience of how light
behaves. It is also extremely important for
a photographer to know how to use a veritable arsenal of lighting tools. I am sure that
someone who has not learned to observe
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Light Is Perception
Light Is Perception
Above all, we have to realize that humanity does not
shape light, but that light shapes humanity.
process surely didnt involve any manipulation of light on the part of the photographer, but the shadows produced by the
movement of the sun across the sky were
nevertheless an important and integral part
of the resulting image.
Composing with Light
The earliest photographersor perhaps we
should call them users of the photographic
mediumwere simple reproductionists
who didnt (or couldnt) compose their images. The developments made during this
early phase of photographys history lay
largely in the hands of physicists, chemists,
and well-to-do hobbyists. Today, we can use
digital technology to light a scene completely with artificial light.
A composer of photographs requires an
innate sense of lighting aesthetics, based
on our collective experience of how light
behaves. It is also extremely important for
a photographer to know how to use a veritable arsenal of lighting tools. I am sure that
someone who has not learned to observe
11
Natural Light
This book deals mostly with how artificial
light can be manipulated and used in photography, but it also addresses how natural
sunlight behaves and can be used in various
contexts.
Appropriately, Heinrich Kramer and Walter von Lom wrote in their book, Light, We
dont think too much about where our ideas
about light come from or what shapes them,
but instead tend to think of them as Godgiven.
Sunlight has played a significant role in
the six-million-year evolution of our current world view. Five million years ago, our
predecessors were subject to the same day
and night rhythm that we are subject to
today. This constant factor sets lifes tempo,
and the colors and contrasts produced by
sunlight allowed us then, as now, to perceive space. Our worldview is bounded by
the same temporal and spatial limits as that
of our ancestors. Light has thus shaped
humanity indirectly via its influence on our
ideas of space and time. Human beings have
15
Natural Light
This book deals mostly with how artificial
light can be manipulated and used in photography, but it also addresses how natural
sunlight behaves and can be used in various
contexts.
Appropriately, Heinrich Kramer and Walter von Lom wrote in their book, Light, We
dont think too much about where our ideas
about light come from or what shapes them,
but instead tend to think of them as Godgiven.
Sunlight has played a significant role in
the six-million-year evolution of our current world view. Five million years ago, our
predecessors were subject to the same day
and night rhythm that we are subject to
today. This constant factor sets lifes tempo,
and the colors and contrasts produced by
sunlight allowed us then, as now, to perceive space. Our worldview is bounded by
the same temporal and spatial limits as that
of our ancestors. Light has thus shaped
humanity indirectly via its influence on our
ideas of space and time. Human beings have
15
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Introduction
Painted Light
The following sections explain the importance of light in the world of classical
painting and the way it influenced the
development of photographic lighting.
Paintings are broadly divided into those
painted by sight and those painted by using
some method of optical projectionbe it a
mirror, a lens, or any other type of device.
Strictly speaking, photography was not invented in the nineteenth century, but rather
developed as a way of making permanent
the temporary projected images used by
painters since the fifteenth century. There
is even evidence that this optical view of
the world was known and used by some artists during the Hellenistic and late Roman
periods.
17
16
Introduction
Painted Light
The following sections explain the importance of light in the world of classical
painting and the way it influenced the
development of photographic lighting.
Paintings are broadly divided into those
painted by sight and those painted by using
some method of optical projectionbe it a
mirror, a lens, or any other type of device.
Strictly speaking, photography was not invented in the nineteenth century, but rather
developed as a way of making permanent
the temporary projected images used by
painters since the fifteenth century. There
is even evidence that this optical view of
the world was known and used by some artists during the Hellenistic and late Roman
periods.
17
Photographic Lighting
Photographic Lighting
The subject alone is nothing, but light is everything!
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Photographic Lighting
Photographic Lighting
The subject alone is nothing, but light is everything!
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20
Introduction
Photographic Lighting
paintings will provide a kind of light memory that can then be used as the basis for
creating computer-generated images.
Contemporary Light
Nowadays, we spend increasing amounts of
time working and living in artificial lighta
situation that is sure to permanently influence the way we perceive the world around
us. If this premise is true, then we have to
assume that photographic aesthetics and
the way we use light will change too. Extrapolating this thought leads us to believe
that we will one day no longer know what
natural light looks like and how it behaves.
For example, we could forget the differences between various shades of gray or the
difference between hard and soft light.
The result of such processes could be that
we begin to create images with unnaturalappearing lighting based entirely on our
own experience of how light behaves. This
situation is exacerbated by todays digital
drawing and lighting tools, which allow us
to create entirely artificial, photorealistic
images that are not recognizable as such.
Digital technology allows us to produce
virtually any lighting effect at any stage in
the photographic process, independent of
available light or the photographers own
experience of the nature of light and its behavior.
Another far-reaching consequence of such
developments could be that future artists
who use the art of the twenty-first century
as a reference will be influenced by purely
digital imagery. A photo produced on the basis of digital reference material will contain
only digital objectsand, most importantly, artificial light made entirely of digitally
generated pixels.
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20
Introduction
Photographic Lighting
paintings will provide a kind of light memory that can then be used as the basis for
creating computer-generated images.
Contemporary Light
Nowadays, we spend increasing amounts of
time working and living in artificial lighta
situation that is sure to permanently influence the way we perceive the world around
us. If this premise is true, then we have to
assume that photographic aesthetics and
the way we use light will change too. Extrapolating this thought leads us to believe
that we will one day no longer know what
natural light looks like and how it behaves.
For example, we could forget the differences between various shades of gray or the
difference between hard and soft light.
The result of such processes could be that
we begin to create images with unnaturalappearing lighting based entirely on our
own experience of how light behaves. This
situation is exacerbated by todays digital
drawing and lighting tools, which allow us
to create entirely artificial, photorealistic
images that are not recognizable as such.
Digital technology allows us to produce
virtually any lighting effect at any stage in
the photographic process, independent of
available light or the photographers own
experience of the nature of light and its behavior.
Another far-reaching consequence of such
developments could be that future artists
who use the art of the twenty-first century
as a reference will be influenced by purely
digital imagery. A photo produced on the basis of digital reference material will contain
only digital objectsand, most importantly, artificial light made entirely of digitally
generated pixels.
21