Drama 16 Stage Lighting

Source: https://500px.com/photo/27583363/sunrise-by-frode-langdalen

Theme: Sunset/Sunrise

The optical illusion in this photo really appealed to me. The way the sunset lights up the snow on the trees to make it appear as if it were a pink cherry tree in spring reminded me of home and a more livable season, even though the picture was taken on a winter day. It’s a reminder to me that even though I feel cold, gray, or stressed, that peace if available if I look for it. I’m also grateful that the sun is not in the image. In the other sunset photos I viewed, the sun was a very powerful and active force and wedged itself in as a focal point. In this photo, the sun is absent and I can wander the image freely. I am not opposed to powerful forces– but this is what I needed to see.

1) January 27, 5:33 PM; Adams Quad

2) A tall tree casts a shadow with the light from Bits & Bytes.

3) The night after Snowmageddon, I left my room to take pictures of the aftermath to show friends and family. After wandering around North Campus for a while and not being impressed by anything, I walked to the south side of campus in search of some interesting shots. I cut across the snow-covered quad to get a more inclusive picture of the expansive white snow, but I was stopped by a breathtaking view of a tree outside Bits & Bytes. The light from the building was pale yellow and highlighted the snow with its warm color. The icicles hanging on the long Bits window blurred the view of the inside. It wasn’t entirely night yet, so the sky was royal blue and the branches of the trees that stretched above Memorial Hall were black and silhouetted, with pieces of yellow light getting caught in the web. The same yellow light shone on the base of the tree which cast a blue shadow on the snow. I snapped a picture excitedly, and felt my goal shift. Instead of taking pictures of the effects of the snow, I took more pictures of shadows and interesting contrasts.

1) 2/5/2015, 7pm, My apartment NYC.

2) Dark room, light coming in through frosted window from street lamp through tree.

3) Sitting in my darkened kitchen on the 3rd floor I stare out the window partially covered with frost, a sickly off-orange light spills in silhouetting empty tree branches. The branch shadows appear to be fingers grasping at and attempting to tickle the jagged edges of the frost, moving slightly and silently back and forth in the wind. At once evoking contradictory feelings of both calm and creepy unease. The motion is hypnotic…

2) http://www.urbansamurai.com/2013/12/eternal-sunset/

3) Sunrise/Sunset

4) As we post our final photo observations, I wanted to do something really deep and symbolic. As the first photo theme was sunrise- looking forward to a new semester full of learning about lighting. Now, as we finish these blog posts, I thought it was only right, to end with sunset. As we look back on our semester shared, we have come so far and learned so much. This picture shows some beautiful lighting, the warmth of the sun reflecting off of the warm water below. I really like the way the palm tree is silhouetted in front of the sun as well, casting some cool shadow effects. So for the last time, here is my picture.

1. Colonial Square middle gate, Saturday, April 19, 10:00 PM

2. Light from the flood lights on the building is hitting a blossoming tree outside of my dorm.

3. Earlier that day I had noted how lovely the sunlight looked filtering through the pink blossoms. Now it was much later at night, and the scene was completely different. The sky was a deep blue/black and amber/orange light from the floodlights on the building filtered through the branches instead. The tree itself looked menacing, and the blossoms were no longer the pink blush but instead a sickly and dim orange. It was a completely different scene that was chilling and beautiful at the same time.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fog_shadow_of_a_tree-crepuscular_rays.JPG

Theme: Shadow

This photo embodies everything that is shadow. The sun shining from behind the tree creates an ethereal feel as it shines through the tree. The fog that overwhelms the photo catches each individual ray and carries the light beams throughout the scene. The sun streaming in through the tree’s branches cast an eerie shadow all over the scene. The tree, blackened with light, appears almost sinister, with the light bleeding through it.

Photo taken by Rychard Curtiss. 2/13/2013

THEME: Cold

This picture was taken moments before sundown. It was getting darker and then all of the sudden there was this weird moment when the light hit the bark of this tree outside my living room window and it seemed to brighten up into this cold white light. There is a gel that I often use to take the warmth out and gives the stage a stark cold feeling; it is called “Winter White”, inset in photo, and I’d never actually seen it occur except when I’ve used it. I was sitting on the couch and looked up at the right moment , immediately felt a shiver go down my spine. The contrast between the warm lights going on in the neighbors windows accentuated the effect, along with the barren branches bereft  of it’s leaves. I shuddered and was frozen, both figuratively and literally while somewhere in the back of my mind a voice kept repeating “Get a picture, get a picture, before it’s too late…” I managed to shake off the shivering feeling and grab my camera. It was a mere 30 secs or so after I took this photo and the moment was gone as the sun disappeared for the evening.

Lightning

Courtesy of Lightning Prevention Systems, Inc. (http://www.lpsnet.com/images/lightning/lightning_tree2.jpg)

POWER

Lightning to me is immediately evocative of power, and not just for what it does, but for what it looks like. In this particular photo, the contrast with everything around it is what creates the feeling of power. The bolt is enormous and blindingly bright, immediately drawing focus and inspiring awe. In addition to the brightness, the unearthly purple-pink tint to the light makes it seem otherworldly. The light conveys power, and its presence makes everything around it look tiny and powerless by comparison.

1) Monday, 10:30 pm, outside Dempster near Cafe on the Quad

2)Lamp through tree

3) As I was walking back, I noticed these long shadows on the ground. A lamp was shining through the branches of long tree and was casting very long shadows on the ground. The shadows were curving, twisting, and intertwining, against a yellow/brown ground. The scene was fairly dark except for the faint light provided by the lamp, dimmed further by the branches. The light created an eerie and mysterious feeling with the long, drawn out shadows on the pavement. They looked like arms reaching out for something as they stirred in the breeze. Or flimsy noodles.

1)   3/7/11- 11 pm- Walkway in between dorms.

2)   There was an up light on a tree next to the walkway and the source was one of the street lamps.  It was a white light that spread a good distance.

3)   This lighting moment was good to me because it epitomized the idea of spooky lighting.  The streetlight shot light up underneath the tree and perfectly created long spooky shadows on the branches.  The tree had several branches and this helped the effect become more powerful.  The light that the streetlight emitted was white and that also contributed to the spookiness because the white light made it look harsh and scary.  This light spread throughout the whole tree and it was something you would see on Halloween as a decoration or something.  It really had that deep dark forestry feel and it was highly effective.  The other thing I noticed is that the branches were really only lit from one side and not the other.  This was hard to tell from a distance but when up close it was easy to see.  Overall it was a spooky moment.