The Camerazzi Community

Lights shining…or not?

Authored by Pikkie Wolmarans
This article stems from a request by Amelia Bodenstein for advice on the use of reflecting lights in the background of her couple photos.

The request:
“I do have question though. I chose this venue because I like the lights to be included in the shoot. The venue won’t make sense to me if I didn’t include the lights. Thus the question is…would the solution be a lense with a shallower depth of field, perhaps F/2.8 or even f/1.4 to create more “bokeh”. I would like your opinion, because honestly I like the lights included. Will you advise om on this one?”

The photo under discussion

A faster lens will maybe give you more bokeh (blur the b/g lights more) but the difference for these shots where the lights are quite a distance away, is negligable. Your f5.6 is fine here and Photoshop can do the trick as well if you really need more blur.

A decision on the desirability of light reflections in your background is unfortunately not a matter of a simple yes or no – there are quite a number of factors of which the most important is of course: does it add to the value of the photo or does it subtract from it? Truth is that it can fall both ways like I’m going to illustrate from you own posts.

The photo above drew three critical comments on the reflecting lights while “Beautiful eyes” (photo below) did not get a single crit of the b/glights – this should certainly tell us something…that in the one case the reflections are found undesirable while in the other they seem to be fine. This leads me to the belief that it is not a matter of using the reflections or not, but a question of HOW they are used that makes the difference.

The easiest way to maybe deal with it is to simply apply the ‘background rule’ that you’d apply to any other photo – do I have objectionable b/g ‘noise? Are there objects cutting through my subject’s head etc; are the lighter spots distracting my attention from the subject? Both sharpness and brightness plays a role in the how distractive the lights are – the sharper and the brighter, the more it will lead the eye.

The more important question is however : where does it lead the eye to? If it is into the photo and towards the subject it is fine; if it is out of the photo or away from the subject it is not fine. More importantly this question changes the nature of the problem from technical (sharpness and brightness of the light) to compositional (positioning of the lights.)

But what are the differences between the b/g lights in the two photos? For me the lights in the top photo are distracting for they cut through the subjects’ heads. Also the top row of lights on the edge is simply bright spots that distract attention away from the subject. In more philosophical terms the subject and the b/g lights in the first photo are two opposing elements that competes for the viewer attention.

In sharp contrast to the above, the same elements in the second pic integrate into a single environmental picture where the light reflections in the b/g enhance the subject in the sense that it portrays the girl within a certain perspective and help create a definite mood. Though it is a good pic already, subtle changes can still make a noticeable impact. To illustrate this I cloned out the reflections that in my mind are still somewhat distractive – the ones in the top right again…see what significant difference such a small alteration makes to the final result – and suddenly we are looking at a really great pic!

Including yet another of your photos (Playful) in the equation, I also judge this one to be a good capture with the b/g lights well applied. What I like most about it though, is that that the b/g lights contribute to creating depth in the photo – a feature that is always great!

If I have to formulate some guidelines:
The street and building lights seem to render better results than the water reflections – probably because it creates more of a ‘natural environment’ which brings perspective, depth and mood into the photo.
The brightness (or lack of it) is important – be careful of too bright – especially where the bright spot/s are far from the focal point and close to the frame as it draws the eye away from the focal point.Though dimming (no bright whites) and blurring (no sharp lights) are important, the composition is critical!

The verdict:
Light reflections can play a major part in making a great capture; at the same time they can ruin a potentially great picture. It requires a keen and trained eye to ‘see’ the subtle differences and like with developing any other photographic skill, practice, practice, practice and judge your own results harshly!

Happy Shootings

Pikkie