SKM Blog

By: Stirling Kim Moss Mixed Lighting I have always enjoyed night time photography as the mixing of different light sources results in a kaleidoscope of colors and light trails. Also, the contrast between light and dark areas creates a vibrant, and engaging scene. Capturing light trails with long exposures with their twisting shapes and lines leads the viewer's eye throughout the image. I experimented with the camera settings and varied the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed settings in order to achieve the pictures that I was looking for. I learnt that with a low ISO setting like 100, I was able to extend the length of the shutter speed to 30 seconds. A small aperture also allowed me to extend the duration of the shutter opening. At first, even with long 30 second exposures I was still unable to capture enough red, white and other streaks of light. Therefore, I decided to apply a cool feature of Adobe Photoshop called Stack Mode. I then proceeded to take 2 or ...

By: Stirling Kim Moss Studio Lighting 1) Proper 2:1 Ratio Lighting It was quite the challenge to achieve this type of lighting where all shadows on the face and background had to be reduced as much as possible. I found that the positioning of the light sources, as well as the distance between the camera and the subject were the most crucial parts during the shoot. 2) Experimental Lighting I wanted to produce a large distorted/warped shadow that would resemble a monster or an alien behind me. It was a struggle at first because I wasn't exactly sure how to produce the shadows that I was looking for. I attempted to use several tungsten lights, however, the shadows that were produced we not quite as sharp as I wanted and were also far too dispersed along the wall. I attempted to try using a single LED bulb which allowed me to control how much light was being emitted and was just easier to work with all around. The LED bulbs were able to give o...