Book Arts and Photography

Trusty North Light in the Seventh Floor Gallery

Last week I met with Nicholas Stawinski, a graduate student in the Furniture and Woodworking area. He wanted to take photographs of his Master of Arts exhibition in the 7th Floor Gallery. Once we had taken some installation photographs, Nicholas suggested we move some pieces closer to the window in the center of the gallery. It was a brilliant idea, since the window faces north and the window is large. In the photograph above, you can see him taking a photo with his set up. Large north light windows have been used in every type of photography for over 100 years. Light coming in from the north is not direct light, therefore it will not produce harsh shadows. Just look at the shadow on the floor under the base of his piece. In this photo, you will see his main light from the side is brighter on the right side of his artwork and it makes the left side a bit darker. We moved one of the large white gallery dividers close to his piece to bounce light and fill in the shadows. The second image shows how much light a white panel can reflect back into the subject. If the white room diveders can not be moved, you could place any white reflective material to act as a bounce or fill card. As I alsways suggest, Nicholas used a tripod, it holds the camera still and it can be leveled. Before Nicholas started taking the photos, he created a custom white balance. He set his camera to Av, or aperture value. By checking the LCD panel on the back of his camera, he could adjust the exposure by using the camera’s exposure compensation feature. Nicholas has posted examples of his work using the above set up. Photos 6 and 7 were taken using the set-up described above. Visit nicholasstawinski.com to see the photos. Stop by to chat or drop me an email if you have any questions.