PHOTOGRAPHY

14-13
that experience has shown to be in the original subject. When this con-
trast is lacking, the picture immediately loses its potential aesthetic appeal.
A person with normal vision sees an object with two eyes and thus from
two different points simultaneously. The two images produced on the
retinas are different, and this disparity is automatically rationalized and
interpreted by the mind as form or roundness. Thus, in binocular vision,
contrast is not necessary to create a sense of roundness. In a photograph,
however, the camera "sees" the subject from a single point and therefore
cannot record form except by illusion. This illusion arises as follows:
Wherever a depression or elevation occurs on a surface illuminated by
directional light, a shadow is formed. Thus a highlight plus a shadow is
interpreted by the mind as a depression or an elevation. When a subject
is illuminated by diffuse light alone, that is, by light from all directions, no
shadows can be formed. An extreme case of this is an uneven field of
fresh snow. On an overcast day, there are no shadows and the field looks
perfectly flat. On a sunny day, however, each little depression and eleva-
tion has its shadow, and these shadows are immediately interpreted as
evidence of uneven terrain.
A general requirement peculiar to color photography is that the color
temperature of all of the light sources used must be the same or very nearly
the same. It is not practical to use light sources of widely differing color
temperatures if faithful color rendition is desired. The eye readily accepts
illumination of mixed color temperature. Photographic film does not.
This requirement complicates some lighting situations, for example, where
daylight must be supplemented by light from electric sources.
In photography, two types of illumination are needed to produce a like-
ness of a subject
:
1. General illumination, if used alone, produces a negative that is flat
and without modeling. Such illumination does not produce prominent
shadows, and density differences in the negative are caused for the most
part by differences in the reflectance of various portions of the subject.
This general, over-all illumination goes by several names, among which
are front light, broad light, flat light, camera light, basic light, and others.
2. Modeling light, if used alone, produces a negative in w
T
hich the high-
lights can be well exposed but the shadows are clear and show no detail at
all. Modeling lights are usually highly directional and are used for the
express purpose of casting shadows and forming highlights.
Outdoors, general illumination, especially in the shadows, is furnished
by sky light and by light reflected by the surroundings. The modeling or
directional light is furnished by direct sunlight. Outdoors a certain
amount of lighting control can be achieved by the judicious use of reflectors.
White cardboard or cloth can be used to reflect light into the shadows while
mirrors can be used to produce sharp shadows and highlights. In pro-
fessional motion-picture photography out-of-doors, even in sunlight, supple-
mentary electric sources often are used to raise the illumination level in
shadowed areas.