TAOP - Softening the light

Outline: Photograph a still life object using a light source. Take one image with the naked lamp and one with a diffuser.




naked lamp

This is the object lit with the naked lamp. There is a lot of shadow here, under the nose, arms and feet due to light being above the object. The top of the object is almost completely blown out, as is most of the areas where the light hits it. This has caused the object to lose some of it's detailing and colour in these areas. 



with diffuser

 This image was taken with the diffuser and there is a remarkable difference. The colour and detail has been retained. The lighting is a lot softer and not nearly as harsh as in the first image. Although there is still some shadowing, it's not as dense and detail can still be seen in the shadow.


Conclusion: The diffuser really does make a huge difference when photographing the subject. It evens the light out more, having a positive result on the overall image.