On a dark field what you shine the most light on will become the "star" in the spotlight. To better visualize that blur the photo to the point of abstract tonal map...
The focal points you've defined with your painted light are the rock under the tree and the front of the building setting up a ping-pong dynamic fighting for attention. If you want the tree to be the focal point you'll need to snoot and aim the light more carefully at the tree.
Something else to consider is you want a natural look is the angle of the light and the fall off due to the difference in distance across the scene. Natural light would never come from that low of an angle except at sunset with up on a mountain top. For a more natural looking rendering place your key light so it hits at a 45° downward angle to the tops of objects are highlighted and the shadows fall down at a 45° angle.
What would work even better in terms of separation and the sense of 3D in the image would be to "key" light from behind and above as in backlight from the sun then in the front paint in the shadow detail with flat light similar to skylight fill. Painting more fill in the center than the edges will create a vignette that leads the eye of the viewer into the brighter focal point.
cgardner wrote:
On a dark field what you shine the most light on will become the "star" in the spotlight. To better visualize that blur the photo to the point of abstract tonal map...
The focal points you've defined with your painted light are the rock under the tree and the front of the building setting up a ping-pong dynamic fighting for attention. If you want the tree to be the focal point you'll need to snoot and aim the light more carefully at the tree.
Something else to consider is you want a natural look is the angle of the light and the fall off due to the difference in distance across the scene. Natural light would never come from that low of an angle except at sunset with up on a mountain top. For a more natural looking rendering place your key light so it hits at a 45° downward angle to the tops of objects are highlighted and the shadows fall down at a 45° angle.
What would work even better in terms of separation and the sense of 3D in the image would be to "key" light from behind and above as in backlight from the sun then in the front paint in the shadow detail with flat light similar to skylight fill. Painting more fill in the center than the edges will create a vignette that leads the eye of the viewer into the brighter focal point....Show more →
Thank you.. You make excellent points, as usual... Jim
I really like the look of it, the angled light is really nice, maybe a slightly warmer light might emulate a sunset?
The rock under the tree is a little too bright. a nice lesson in comparative reflections there! less time on the bright stuff with the torch
The missed point concerns the hue of the grass on the far side of the tree, that yellowy green is very nearly as perceptually bright as the foreground rock.
Darken that green and the rock down, warm it all up a touch and I think it should fly.
I'd like to see the top of the bridge too, not just the edge. Now I'm being picky.
P
One of the nice things you can do with light painting is to control the contrast. Only a little light in the shadows - dark shadows. A little more light, shadows aren't as dark. When I light-paint small set-ups I vary the dwell time on the different parts by intuition and then check the results. For light painting, chimping is your friend.
silvawispa wrote:
I really like the look of it, the angled light is really nice, maybe a slightly warmer light might emulate a sunset?
The rock under the tree is a little too bright. a nice lesson in comparative reflections there! less time on the bright stuff with the torch
The missed point concerns the hue of the grass on the far side of the tree, that yellowy green is very nearly as perceptually bright as the foreground rock.
Darken that green and the rock down, warm it all up a touch and I think it should fly.
I'd like to see the top of the bridge too, not just the edge. Now I'm being picky.
P...Show more →
Thank you, Paul... I will give this a shot and see what I come up with.. Jim
AuntiPode wrote:
One of the nice things you can do with light painting is to control the contrast. Only a little light in the shadows - dark shadows. A little more light, shadows aren't as dark. When I light-paint small set-ups I vary the dwell time on the different parts by intuition and then check the results. For light painting, chimping is your friend.
Karen, When you are in the dark, literally and actually, a little light goes a long way.. I have been wondering if you could paint in small area's, over multiple frames and blend together.. Thanks for the help.. Jim
