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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> Beauty of subject vers. beauty of the light.
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Showing posts 1 - 13 of 13, (reverse)
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 10/23/2002 10:42:42 PM · #1
Is any one else struggelling with making a distinction between a well lit object and a beautiful object spot lighted?

I admit to being envious of some of the art objects in this week's photos.

Another question: how do YOU define dramatic lighting.

aelith the grump
 10/24/2002 01:50:02 AM · #2
Aelith - Yes I am!
Sorry gang, but I have given out more 3`s and 4`s this week then any other challenge I have voted in. Although there are many beautiful pics, many more do not indicate a single light source or reflect what the subject is that they are trying to highlight. Other pics are just nice pics that were entered as if there were no specific challenge for the week. I do not consider the sun `artificial` light. And I have to vote down a pic that is just a bunch of color that does not define in any way what I am looking at. Perhaps lower scores in general for a week are equally proportioned to the difficulty of the challenge. But if that is so, I can`t imagine the scores for next week!
 10/24/2002 02:28:09 AM · #3
My guess is that next week will certainly have some ugly scoring (as well as a few awesome shots), but this week might be worse. The fact is, everything thinks they can take a shot with one light and submit it as qualifying for the contest, but I'm guessing a lot of people will simply give up on taking a shot of an illusion and there will be significantly fewer submissions. For example, I have not had any grand ideas for the illusion challenge (and no abundance of time to come up with something) so I don't intend to submit anything unless I'm randomly inspired sometime soon.
 10/24/2002 06:42:27 AM · #4
plus ... the image iwas supposed to have a [b]dramatic [b] effect brought by the light ... I am voting with this part of the challenge in mind as well
 10/24/2002 08:43:50 AM · #5
I always try to take the challenge theme into high consideration when voting, so if there's a subject that I'm not to fond of, but it has great lighting I will vote it a bit higher this week, but overall I vote a photo on it's creativity and how much I enjoy it.
 10/24/2002 09:13:55 AM · #6
this probably should have been included in the challenge description. but oh well .. :P

my understand from reading materials and discussions with other more established photographers is that 'dramatic lighting' is generally understood to be contrasty lighting, i.e. with bright areas, offset by dark shadows. This is as opposed to 'evenly lit' or 'flat' lighting.

Here's a couple examples of 'dramatic lighting' (as I understand it):

example 1
example 2
example 3
example 4


Originally posted by aelith:

Another question: how do YOU define dramatic lighting.

aelith the grump
 10/24/2002 09:24:39 AM · #7
I'm not sure I completely agree with magnetic, but what he described could definitely be dramatic lighting, but I would not limit my own definition to that...

I think that 'dramatic' lighting must add something 'special' to the photo in some way. I expect so see some sort of light in any photograph. Magnetic is right about the 'flat' and 'even' lighting. I look at it and say "so what?"


10/24/2002 10:17:26 AM · #8
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I'm not sure I completely agree with magnetic, but what he described could definitely be dramatic lighting, but I would not limit my own definition to that...

I think that 'dramatic' lighting must add something 'special' to the photo in some way. I expect so see some sort of light in any photograph. Magnetic is right about the 'flat' and 'even' lighting. I look at it and say "so what?"


Flat or even lighting is very effective for the right subjects. Lighting
is just a compositional tool. If you want to say 'restful' or 'serene'
then harsh, dramatic lighting doesn't help your picture, in fact it
would be in direct conflict for what you wanted the picture to say.

Everything plays together, colours, tones, lighting, subject to impart
the message in your picture.
 10/24/2002 10:23:15 AM · #9
I have given a lot of comments this week saying that the lighting didn't meet my criteria for dramatic lighting. I think it's kind of like the pornography definition, something to the effect of I can't define it, but I know it when I see it. Mostly I guess I'm looking for effectiveness of enhancing the subject some or even mostly, but leaving some part in shadow.

I have fallen into the 'not dramatic' gorge methinks because I think I used my best picture of the 3 I had earmarked, but not the best for this particular challenge.

I think my illusions tries are better suited to the light source challenge. It's all about timing, isn't it?
 10/24/2002 10:37:48 AM · #10
This is funny...for once I think my entry strictly meets the letter of the challenge in every respect. But it's not a very "pretty" picture and is languishing around 3.7. I guess it's back to "wide interpretation of the challenge" again next week...
 10/24/2002 11:03:42 AM · #11
Originally posted by GeneralE:
This is funny...for once I think my entry strictly meets the letter of the challenge in every respect. But it's not a very "pretty" picture and is languishing around 3.7. I guess it's back to "wide interpretation of the challenge" again next week...

Maybe it's just my beginner-idiot opinion, but isn't composition of an image sort of important? I don't think 'pretty' makes good pictures ALL of the time. Of my 2 favorites (so far anyway), one is definitely 'pretty' and the other is not IMO. Maybe it's the use of the word 'pretty'. Maybe it would be more effective to use something like 'interesting'. I was leafing thru some of the 'Year in Photography' coffee table type books from the 60's (amusingly some of them are called 'Modern Photography') and there were a lot of war shots, of troops, victims, stuff like that and it was anything but pretty, but it was interesting. Some of it to the point of making me sick to my stomach with pity and compassion. Which I'm sure was the photographer's aim in taking it.

Hope you have better luck next week GeneralE. I hope I do too!! I'm not doing well this week either.


 10/24/2002 01:50:28 PM · #12
I also agree that the dramatic lighting should be something extra in the photograph. Before looking at the submissions I was also thinking that there would probably have to be something special with shadows. After looking at the submissions, many of the photos with shadows are dramatic because of the shadows, but there are others that are dramatically lit without shadows. Bottom line I believe that there should be some aspect of dramatic lighting to meet the challenge.
 10/24/2002 03:29:18 PM · #13
Originally posted by inspzil:
Hope you have better luck next week GeneralE. I hope I do too!! I'm not doing well this week either.


Thanks for the encouragement. I can't elaborate on my photo until next week of course, but if I used the same shot this coming week (with a different title) I might get a whole different result!
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