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Photography Skills - 14/11/15

3-Point Lighting System

The three-point lighting system is a method used in visual media such as photography, video and film. There are of course three separate positions which help illuminate the subject in different matters, these 3 positions are:

Key Light

This shines directly upon the subject and serves as the principal illuminator. In indoor shots, things such as lamps or a cameras flash acts as the key light, whereas for outdoor shots can use the sun as said light. 

Fill Light

The fill light shines on the subject from a side angle and is often placed at a lower position. It is usually softer and less bright than the key light (up to half), and more to a flood.

Back Light

The back light shines on the subject from behind and can be from one side or the other. It separates the subject from the backgroud itself and highlights specific contours.

 

So when it comes to organising our own photoshoot we will neeed to consider these principles, the lighting and the background too. The background is important as for our magazine advert and digipak we want to use a white backdrop. This will therefore mean we will have to ensure there are no shadows present behind us in order to make it proffessional and boost the aesthetics of it. The fill light will help with the most as it is there to cast away such shadows which is initially created by the key light. So overall we will use the 3-point lighting system to our advantage as much as we can for production. 

 

Rule of Thirds

rule of thirds
rule-of-thirds-photo-tip
rule-of-thirds_mono-lake-lines
rule-of-thirds-4

The initial principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking down the given image into thirds, so that you end up having 9 parts, as shown in the images above that can be clicked on. It identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame you image, and it allows more linear features in the image to flow from section to section.This makes the image and subject of the photo more balanced and more focused on, and others can interract with the photo more naturally as people tend to look straight at the intersection points first whenever they view a image. 

So considering this particular composition of the rule of thirds when it comes to taking/framing our own photos for our magazine advert or digipak, as a group we will have to ensure they look well balanced with our subjects being framed in the points of interest, and on the intersection points to make the images successful. 

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