autofantasia's photos with the keyword: lighting

The theme this week for those involved with The Sunday Challenge was back-lighting , which sounded so simple and yet a combination of poor weather, few suitable subjects catching my eye and life getting in the way has meant that I've struggled somewhat. In the end I've elected to use this shot, which was really just a quick snap I took when I went up to Middlesbrough with the intention of shooting the Bottle of Notes , a large piece of public art that can be found in the centre of the town. However, the sun wasn't really in the ideal spot at that particular time of day to get the shot I wanted, but I did spot this rather 'ugly duckling' swimming all alone in the pond adjacent to where the sculpture sits. I liked how the sun which was directly ahead of me, but which was obviously coming from behind the bird meant that only the edge of its back was catching the light. The rest of the bird and most of the plants in the embankment behind were as you can see in shade. Ideally, I would have liked the exposure to have been slightly better and I dare say I could have got the focus sharper too, but overall I like how what was a hasty snap has turned out. So ... ugly duckling, what do you have to say for yourself? Not a quack, not a quack, not a waddle or a quack But a glide and a whistle and a snowy white back And a head so noble and high Say who’s an ugly duckling? Not I! Not I!

This week's Sunday Challenge was to photograph three things the same, only one of which should be in focus , which you also had to treat in some other way .... a sort of 'two for one' if you like! So I decided to take 3 bottles of my favourite tipple, which must surely be one of America's finest exports after the early Ford Mustangs and the Chevrolet Camaro. The added spin if you like was that I shot them in near total darkness with only low/selective lighting ... cheers everyone!

Yet another bear selectively lit with a previous Sunday Challenge in mind. This little ceramic bear is actually designed to take potpourri, not that it ever gets used for that. Now, what with the bears, the ice cubes and the Elvis buckle I really need to get outside into the fresh air ... I'm starting to look a little pale!

This week's Sunday Challenge was to shoot something personal with the added twist of having to combine it with a previous technical challenge. So, I decided to use this old enamelled belt buckle I bought many years ago and to give it the selective lighting treatment. Throughout my own life I've been a huge fan of Elvis Presley and as a young man I used to love wearing thick belts with large buckles like the one you see here. This one is rather special though as it was a limited edition produced by the American Legends Foundry to mark the life of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. I really felt it would be ideal for the selective lighting treatment. My only concern was that I wanted to bring out the vibrant blue enamel that forms the background to the design and so had to be careful with how I positioned the Maglite torch that was my only light source. In the end I think I got it just about right.

This was another of the themes I had in mind for the recent Sunday Challenge , which had the theme of low light. I created these ice cubes using plain water infused with blue food colouring. The shot was taken in total darkness, with the only light source coming from a small torch I placed to the lower right hand side of the glass. In the end I opted to post the little bear with the heart in the group proper, but really liked how this turned out and thought it worth sharing. It kind of reminds me of my earlier wet and red phase!

Yet another challenging, no pun intended, week as far as The Sunday Challenge was concerned. The theme this week was selective lighting, meaning as I understood it a situation where the photographer controls the light. So I came up with a few ideas, one of which resulted in me spilling a tray full of Coca-Cola over my workstation. I hasten to add that was not part of the plan and no photographs were taken! Anyway, of the three themes I came up with, I've decided to use this little lady here for the main challenge entry. We've had her for many years and she’s stating to show her age with a couple of pieces from her derrière missing completely, but from the front sat on our kitchen window sill I think she’s still rather cute. I took this shot with my macro lens, which I have something of a love hate relationship with and with manual focus … a thing I rarely do with any great success. To give you an idea of scale the little bear is just over 5cm tall: 2 inches in old money. I had it sat on my desk with a piece of black card serving as an infinity curve. It was late at night so the room was in total darkness. Lighting was provided from the left with a small Maglite torch and from the right via an even smaller Cyba-lite, which I had shining down a piece of cardboard tubing in the guise of a home-made snoot. That’s the joy of TSC , it pushes you to try new things: to tackle new subjects and to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. I mean, this time last week I didn't even know what a snoot was - lol.