By The CandleLight

For this weeks’ Monochrome Madness, I decided to present this image, another experiment with the light. This time it was a candle light, by accident.

In the evenings I like to light up candles in my home, I find that gentle light very calming. As I was watching something on TV, I noticed how this clock looks really beautiful under the candle light, with interesting shadows dancing on its surface. So, I grabbed my phone and took few images, changing the position of the candle, to change the light and the casting of shadows.

In post-processing I played with dodge and burn, adjusting the light and dark parts once again. Doing that, I realised I was adding some more contrast, which I find very interesting… The way you can manipulate the image, using so many different techniques to get to the same result.

That is all I have for you this week… for more excellent entries,  you can check tomorrow Leanne’s blog Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY.

 

Manipulating The Light

Here is another experiment with light for Monochrome Madness Challenge. I wanted to create a dark background by manipulating the light while taking an image.

My subject was a wooden calendar, a very practical and pretty thing. I placed it on my white dressing table, in a room with white walls and direct light overhead. So, it couldn’t be brighter. To make things more challenging, I had to take this image with my phone camera, because I had to return a DSLR camera I had on a loan. Never one to back away from the challenge, I held my phone in one hand and pointed a flash light with the other. I noticed as I was changing the angle of the flash light, the lightning of the image was also changing, at some point becoming quite dark.

So I would say the experiment in itself was successful, but I am not satisfied with the quality of the image. If I had a real camera and properly fixed source of light, I think the final result would be much better. But what can you do? You can go to IKEA and buy some flexible floor lamps and try again. 🙂

For the next Monochrome Madness the challenge is to capture some curves. I have some ideas of incorporating my experiments with light into that challenge. I find it very interesting when you plan ahead and look for the subject, it releases so much creativity. I hope you will spare some time to check other MMC entries at Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY.

Harnessing the Light

As every photographer knows, light can be your greatest enemy or a valuable ally.

You can stand under the scorching summer sun, trying to capture the beautiful square in a little Mediterranean town, fighting the light intensified by the whiteness of the stone facades. But if you step in the shade of the old olive tree, the same scene transforms into a beautiful dance of shadows.

Or you can stand in the darkness that renders your camera useless…until you light up a candle and capture not only the light, but the warmth and intimacy of the moment.

For Christmas I treated myself with books Life In Natural Light and Natural Light, so now I am trying to explore and experiment with light.

As always, be so kind and check other Monochrome Madness entries at Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY.