We continue our Exploring with a Camera topic of Chiaroscuro this week, with a look at walking into the light. You can get some great strong light/dark contrast when you are indoors and look out into the light. In this situation, instead of having the subject illuminated against a dark background, the subject is dark against a light background.
This image was taken at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. After a while I was overwhelmed by the museum’s vast and varied collection, so I began wandering the museum looking more at the architecture than the artifacts. I stopped at an overlook above the main doors and photographed the movement of people in and out. There was an ebb and flow to the motion. It made me wonder where all of these people are coming from, and going to. I wondered where this woman was headed with such purpose. The strong light/dark contrast, the focus and her isolation from other elements highlights her as the subject.
How is your exploration of chiaroscuro going? Have you found examples in your archives? Have you experimented yet? Share your results with us here! The link up is open until November 30, so you have plenty of time to explore.
Oh, gotta get on it — thanks for the reminder! Happy weekend, Kat!
Happy weekend to you too, Gina! How’s the unpacking going?
I love this new exercise, Kat! I’ve decided to participate too and love a little challenge of getting out of my comfort zone! Your examples are really helpful. I’ll be posting in a couple of days!
I hope you’re having a beautiful Sunday!
I can’t wait to see what you come up with, Sandra.
I’m not sure I got the 3D effect very much! Well, maybe in a couple of shots! However, the exercise was fun and got me looking at contrasts in light/dark situations more carefully!
Glad you had fun! I enjoyed your photos. Keep playing around with exposures, and you’ll get a feel for the range of 3D vs. 2D silhouettes with the strong contrast.