Assignment #3: Light Fall-Off
Arguably one of the most misunderstood principles of lighting is the inverse square law. In particular, the concept of "Light Fall-off" is often misunderstood.
What is Light Fall-off?
Light fall-off describes the relationship between the brightness values between two points with respect to a light source. The closer the two points are to the light source, the greater difference in brightness there will be between those two points. Vice versa, the farther away those two points are, the lesser the difference.
This is all just a matter of distance between the subject and the light source, so in practice, depending on how far you place your light with respect to your subject can dramatically change the look of the entire photo.
Here’s an example:
When I placed my light CLOSER to the subject, the exposure differences between the bread and the background is much more significant than when I placed the light farther away. The image on the left shows the exposure both on the background and the bread to be a little bit closer to each other.
So, to help solidify this concept for you, your assignment is as follows:
Using natural or artificial light, create 2 images that demonstrate the concept of light fall off. One with a great amount of fall off and another with very little fall off.
Post your results in our Discord channel.
Here are some examples from my work:
With the light placed close to the galette, notice how the light quickly falls into shadow, while the image on the right, since the light is placed relatively far away, the exposure across the fruit is the same. If not, rather close. So, try this out. You can create a wide variety of looks just by playing with the distance of your light relative to your subject.
Please don't forget to take a BTS photo so we can help you out with constructive feedback.
Great job!
When you're ready, I'll see you in the next lesson.
