Photo Observation #9

Samarium & Air

Courtesy of Cyberchemist’s flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/37388341@N00/2585456414/in/photostream)

DEALER’S CHOICE (I’ll call it “Bold.” “Nerdy” also applies.)

This is a thin strip of the element Samarium, which sparks and burns spectacularly when heated in air. The color of the light and the shape of the sparks and their trails are bold, bright, and fanciful (the pattern reminds me of something from a sci-fi movie, or the trees in Dr. Seuss books). The light it gives off has an interesting effect on the surroundings, creating outlines around what looks like the clamp holding the metal, and tinting everything pinkish-purple. The contrast is beautiful, and the use of the samarium as a single light source is a bold choice for the photo.

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Lighting Observation #18

1.) Thursday Apr. 7th 2011, 11:03 P.M. The steps of Emily Lowe Hall.

2.) The light outside creating perfect key/fill.

3.) I was standing outside Emily Lowe with a few friends after a rehearsal for my thesis, and Christian Titus was standing in a place and position where the lights hitting him were creating a perfect key and fill effect on his face, with one side highlighting his face and the other cutting down on contrast just enough for it to look natural, despite the artificial (and non-directional light sources). It was like the opposite of a traditional lighting moment: an accidental recreation of a stage effect, instead of the stage recreation of natural light. It was disorienting, but quite cool. It made the moment feel exceptionally dramatic.

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Lighting Observation

1) DATE-TIME-LOCATION: 2 AM, a friend’s kitchen, 4/4

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: I am standing in darkness in the hallway, someone is standing directly in front of the above-stove light, which is very warm. There is no other light in the room.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: The strong, warm backlight does not feel foreboding as much as it feels powerful in a more comforting way. it is as if my friend is capable of saving me in some way, were I in peril. The darkness I am standing it makes her feel further away, yet still very hard not to focus on due to the darkness surrounding us.

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Lighting Observation

1) DATE-TIME-LOCATION: Between Barnard and Calkins Halls, midday on Thursday, April 7th.

2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: The sun is shining through the white buds of a tree.

3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: This lighting moment reminds me first and foremost of spring: Of tender sun and of new growth. The light bouncing off of the white buds and the new green shoots coming from the tree seems to make the tree glow with youth.

 

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Photo Observation

Photo taken by Andrew Evans, found from Flickr.com ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewevans/5585574119/ )

Theme: Dealer’s Choice (Crisp)

DESCRIPTION: I feel that this picture is represents crisp lighting because of the light fog allowing the beams to shine through. The lines of the trees are sharp despite this, and the light also causes the eye to focus on the dew reflecting off of the underbrush and other foliage.

 

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Lighting Observation #17

1.) Thursday Apr. 7th 2011, 12:00 A.M. Behind Emily Lowe Hall.

2.) A flickering fluorescent bulb in a lamp.

3.) One of the three lamp-style fluorescent lights outside of Lowe 108 was flickering, and the effect was exaggerated by the reflection of the light in the raindrops as they came down. The lights have a medical bluish-white color, and so the flickering was reminiscent of a bug zapper in action. The effect had a rural, spooky feel, like something from a horror movie. It was disconcerting and very vivid. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the pattern and learn to ignore it, but eventually they did.

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Photo Observation, Dealer’s Choice.

Another photo from my sister’s collection.

Let’s assign a theme to this: Mystery.

What gets me here is that we have some very shadowy figures walking out of a very intense light. We cannot see any scenery, just atmosphere – and that is incredibly dense. I ask myself, who or what are these people, and what is the light they are walking out of?

In reality, they are performers dressed as vikings, and the light and smoke that they’re walking out of is provided by the dying remnants of a burning ship. Kind of takes the mystery out of it, knowing that – almost adds an air of Monty-Python-esque absurdity.

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Lighting observation #2, week of April 7th

Location: Outside of NAB, at around 11pm, Thursday, April 7th.

Objective Description: A street lamp is taller than some trees. It provides a visible source right above the trees. The trees do not seem to have any leaves yet.

Subjective Description: Something is creepy. I like it – it sends me back a couple of seasons to Autumn – reminds me of a time when air is clear, sharp, and cold. At the same time, it is ominous; it menaces. It seems to stand out. The trees look very bare – which is out of place in April – perhaps they only appear bare because they are so dark and sharply defined against the streetlight lit sky. And that one lamp seems to hover over them (I actually mistook it for the moon).

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Lighting Observation #1, Week of April 7th

Location: In booth in Blackbox; sometime during the day on Sunday, April 3rd.

Objective Description: The house lights or work lights (or both) are up in the theater, but the booth itself is dark. Light comes in through the window by the stage manager’s desk, at an interesting angle, and hits the far wall.

Subjective Description: Interesting. It was later in the day, and my mind was a bit fried after the better part of two days alone in a dark booth. I saw the light and thought “Ok, so I didn’t notice that yet.” Could I assign an emotion? I could try: uh – novelty. “Oh look, isn’t that nice. Moving on.”

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“Dealer’s Choice” Photo Observation

1)
2) Clay Enos
3) Dealer’s Choice / Creepy
4) DESCRIPTION: The moment I saw this picture it just looked so creepy and menacing. The way the light is so concentrated and how it falls on the objects and creates those dark intense shadows, just really gives you a sense of isolation .

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