Drama 16 Stage Lighting

I took this picture of a sunset over the summer. I was struck by the way the light pierced through the clouds making it look as though the sky was on fire. Yet the clouds directly in front of the sun are still in shadow, a siloutte in the forground, lending dimension to the image. The light was reflecting on the tops of the water only, creating depth to the shadows and motion of the waves. The colors of the sunset reflect in the wet sand, which looked as smooth as glass and glowed orange along the beach, reminding me of a  watercolor painting.

1.) 4/2/11 – 6 pm -ish – Subway car

2.) Overhead strip light on the Subway shining down on people sitting, reflections of people in subway windows

3.) Riding into the city the other day I started to look at myself in the reflection off the window directly across from where I was sitting. I started to notice that the light coming down from directly above me was modeling my face in an interesting way, it brought out a sharp highlight on my forehead and cheekbones and accentuated the shadows under my cheeks and the bags under my eyes. This is not the first time that I’ve noticed this modeling effect, but as I started to look at the other on the train I started to realize that nobody looked as modeled as my reflection. So I started to look at people’s faces in the light, and where possible look at their reflection in the window; I found that everyone looked more… skeletal I guess in the reflection than in reality. I’m not entirely certain why that is, but I think it’s because there’s enough fill light on the car in general that people look normal, but the reflection doesn’t catch the fill light, only the top light. It’s kinda freakish, honestly. You look at someone but then their reflection is a hallowed skeletal version of themselves; it remind me of vampire type lore!

1) Thursday Feb. 3 2011, 12:00 P.M.

2) The noon-time sun reflecting off the snow in front of Constitution Hall.

3) The sun at noon was strong, and my eye was unaccustomed to the brightness after days of cloud cover. Walking out of my building, I was struck by the brightness of the sun reflecting off the snow. The light-colored brick of the graduate building caused the whole scene to blend together. It felt abrasively cold (emotionally speaking) and very jarring. The brightness felt out of place in an area as developed and urban as Hempstead.