Project 3: A Variety Of Lighting Conditions.

This next project is similar to no.2 (in that it relates to understanding Histograms) but this time its up to you to produce the photos and then explain how the histogram illustrate the different feature.
What it asks you to produce photos to the following criteria:-

1. A full-scale image, with black, white and a full range of tones in between.
2. A contrasty image, in which both shadows and highlights are right up against the edges of the scale.
3. A flat, low contrast image, in which there are no blacks or whites.
4. A high key image, meaning mostly at the bright end of the scale.
5. A low key image, meaning mostly at the dark end of the scale.

It say that this is quite a challenging project and to be honest I'd have to agree because when i first read what it wanted you to do i just for some reason could get my head around the wording of the photos it wanted you to produce. After a second and third read i stop panicking a little and slowly came to realise it's only really asking you to produce your own shot with similar histograms to the images in project 2, once I'd understood this it was half the battle. For my photos i stuck to using black and white as it didn't specify whether you should shot in colour or not, but by using black and white it does make it easier to interpret the histograms.

Full Scale Image.

My full scale shot was taken during the last spell of wintry weather we had, what i like about this image is the feeling that you know something is missing with the empty feeder and no sign of any animals around. With the histogram the first peak on the left is produced by the feeder and its shadow then as you move right the next peak is formed by the heavy clouds and where it falls away is produced by the rest of the clouds and the trees in the background. The rest is made up of the snow covered field and the small peak near the far right is dew to the brighter part of the sky up in the left hand corner.

Contrasty Image.

This next shot was one i took local of a group of abandon vehicles that i walk past a couple of times and though that i could make an interesting photo from if i timed it right with the light. What i would have like the histogram to look like is a little more u shaped but i got it pretty much as close as i could. The peaks on the left hand side are the product of the strong shadows on the left hand side in the tree and in the bottom right corner where it is particular dark, next the smaller peaks on the left are produced by the grass in the foreground. The lower areas in the middle are formed by the lighter grey areas produced by the majority of the vehicles body work and the landscape in the background, then finally the high peak on the right is coursed by the sky and the cars bonnet.

Flat, Low Contrast Image.

This was a shot that i took back in the summer but the tones meant that it work perfectly as an example of a flat low contrast image as it lacked any strong shadows or highlights. The main peak at the centre is formed from the body of the image because it is pretty much solidly made up of grey tones. The small area on the left is made up by the people on the beach and the small are on the right is a product of the lighter areas within the clouds. I did find this one of the more difficult images to produce because of the way the light naturally is at this time of year (in that it seems to produce either strong shadows or very bright highlights) and when i tried to add light to a scene i just couldn't seem to get it right which is why i chose to use a scene shot earlier in the year.

High-Key Image.

My high key shot i captured in my back garden, what it shows is a winter visitor to these shore in the form of a Waxwing. I'd spent many weeks during the winter looking locally on Cannock Chase for this particular bird but had never manage to capture one and then what do you know a whole load of them land in my garden and start feeding (sods law). Because of the light is in this shot it makes it a prime example because their are no strong shadows and the tones remain pretty much gray other then in a few areas on the birds body which produce the low line in the darker section of the histogram. The bump in the middle is produced by the rest of the bird and the branches surrounding it and then the high peaks on the far right are formed from the tones in the sky.

Low-Key Image.

For my final low key image i used opposite lighting conditions to my high key shot to produce strong shadow but little highlights, what i like about this photo is the very lonely feel to it and shooting in black and white only adds to this fact. The peak on the left are formed by the shadows on the right side of the frame and the ones that are produced on the bears body and the shadow cast on to the wall. The small valley is made up from the material that it's seated on and then hill is produced by the gray tone of the wall, the only problem is the histogram shows that there are some very light tones somewhere in the frame but i just can't spot what it's picking up.

This project helps to build on what I've already learnt in project 2 but with it begin more of a practical exercise in that you have to capture the image your self as well as explain how the histograms relate to the photos, i feel that it has help me more to gain a fuller understanding of this small but important part of digital photography.