Olson - Abcs of beautiful light: a complete course in lighting for photographers

Copyright 2014 by Rosanne Olson.

All rights reserved.

All photographs by the author.

Published by:

Amherst Media, Inc.

P.O. Box 586

Buffalo, N.Y. 14226

Fax: 716-874-4508

www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins

Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse

Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth

Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder

Business Manager: Adam Richards

Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo

ISBN-13: 978-1-60895-718-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933299

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

Table of Contents

R osanne Olson is a portrait and fine-art photographer who holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. Her diverse photography background ranges from newspaper and editorial photography to commercial jobs, including ad campaigns for the New York City Ballet, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Childrens Hospital (Seattle), and Swedish Medical Center.

Rosannes work has been featured in various publications, such as Photo District News, View Camera, Lens Work, and Communication Arts. In 2008, she authored a book about women and body image titled This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes (Artisan Books).

She has also won numerous awards, including nine times in Communication Arts annuals and more than a dozen times in Graphis photo annuals. In 2013, she won a PX3 award (Paris) for her newest fine art series, entitled Rapture.

Rosanne has taught courses and workshops on lighting, portraiture, and creativity at Photo Center Northwest, Santa Fe Workshops, Photo Plus Expo, the WPPI national convention, various high schools and universities, and in her Seattle studio.

There are many ways to approach the art of teaching photography, and especially lighting. Rosanne brings an undergraduate degree in science to her teaching. Her approach is to instill curiosity and a sense of inquiry in her students. Through this book you will learn to understand light and its effects. You will never look at a photograph or painting in the same way after you learn about light. Everything is lit by one source or another. The questions are: what and how? That is what this book is designed to teach you. To learn more about Rosanne Olson, please visit www.rosanneolson.com.

W e are surrounded by light every moment of every daylight that washes over the streets on a summer morning, neon signs that beckon from stores and filling stations, yellowish field lights that illuminate an evening football game. Whether its headlights, candlelight, moonlight, or incandescent light, all visible light emanates from a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that photographers work with on a daily basis.

It takes practice, practice, practice to perfect the skills and train your eye to see the subtleties of light.

For the artist, photographer, cinematographer, and lighting designer, light is everything. We are profoundly affected by the color, position and quality of a light source. Once we learn to master lighting, it becomes a tool by which we tell our stories. When we tell our stories well, we reach people deeply. That is the power of light.

In this book, you will learn lighting principles for photography, video, and art in general. This includes how the angles and heights of your light sources affect your pictures. For example, a photograph lit by a source that is at a low angle will have a completely different feel from one lit by a high-angled source. You will learn to work with light modifiers to change the quality of your light and how you can control light to create a feeling of depth and dimension.