Project 2 – Controlling Shadows
Stop Guessing What Your Light Is Doing.
Use a simple white golf ball to learn the visual logic that separates flat snapshots from three dimensional, high-quality lighting. Once you can read the shadow, you will never guess your light again.
This project is all about understanding how light behaves - specifically how it affects shadows, highlights and brightness. Using a simple subject like a golf ball, you'll explore how small changes in lighting can completely transform an image.
This project focuses on:
- The inverse square law (how light falls off over distance)
- Shadow sharpness and density
- Gloss highlights and reflections
- The difference between hard and soft light
What you need:
- White golf ball
- White tee
- White surface
- Any Camera
- Light (even a desk lamp will do!)
But don't worry if you don't have all of that - any glossy ball and a light surface (even paper) will work. If you want to push it further, try balancing the ball on a tee for a more challenging shot, and to really see the shadows at play!
What to upload to the gallery:
- Shoot from above with a hard light to create strong, defined shadows
- Switch to a soft light and see how those shadows change
- Move your light closer and further away to observe how brightness and falloff behave (this is the inverse square law in action)
- Pay attention to how the highlight moves across the ball and how it defines the shape
- We especially want to see demonstration of shadow density changing (you can combine 2 results into one photo side by side if you wish)
By the end, you should have a better feel for how to shape light and shadow, how distance affects exposure, how reflective surfaces behave and how small changes can completely transform the shot.
The Badges you could earn:
Upload your setup or early tests (no perfect shots needed!) Please don't wait until you have a polished image to participate. This project is about learning to see the light, so your rough behind-the-scenes setups or quick phone snaps are incredibly valuable. Upload whatever you have tried so far, claim your badge, and I’ll look at these real-world examples in our project talks.
See you in the gallery,
Karl Taylor
Project Gallery
Comments
Hi Karl,
I just uploaded my two images for shadow density. I have to go to my other job but will continue on with the project when I return. I really appreciate the “learn by doing” classes you make available to us and the replays especially since I can’t always attend live. Hope I am on the right track with my submissions.
Project review question – this project fits perfectly in terms of skills for a project I have in mind – thank you. My question – how to manage to back ground lighting to make it whiter – whilst retaining the sharp edges of the shadow even though it will be lighter. PS I am working my way through the lighting course so if the answer is there somewhere past the emotion of light – then no worries.
Hi, when you say background in this case do you mean the white surface? If so then the more global fill will of course add more overall illumniation to the surface, if you calculate your angle of reflectance from the camera (see this course: https://visualeducation.com/class/angles-of-incidence-and-reflection/) then you can increase global fill to come from a position that matches the angle of reflectance to maximise the white surface.
thank you
Would you appreciate short labels of what it is or what I did or is it best to leave that off? I did three two-shot montages for: Shadow density, hard and soft shadow, and inverse square law that covers what was asked and (I think) all of the badges.
Hi, I don’t mind you adding short labels.
Hi, just uploaded my first images! I didn’t have a golf ball handy, so I used one of those soft stress balls for finger exercises instead. 🙂 Hope that works too!
Hi,
First of all thank you for the video and the exercise, I really enjoyed doing it.
I can select only one picture to upload. Is it a bug or a new limit? I wanted to upload 5 shots on 3 images, shall I put all 5 on one instead?
Thx,
Z.
Hi, you can upload 3 different images. Once you have uploaded your first image, the two additional upload image boxes will be visible. You can also combine images as a montage if you wish. Thanks Tim
Hi Tim,
Thank you!
More of a question, I missed the live… Anyway, @ 1:37:35 (or there about) you’re discussing the inverse square and light bouncing around the room as you do not have a modifier on the light. I’m wondering how a reflector like a 7″ Bowen’s style reflector would affect the shadows since the light would be more directional. I get the inverse square law but you’re showing it with bare bulb. Would the shadows be a bit darker on the shot where the light is further away?
Hi, please watch this class for a full explanation: https://visualeducation.com/class/understanding-inverse-square-law/
Hi sir, at 1:42:07 I saw the flash being used at full power, so I wanted to ask: is it true that using a flash repeatedly at full power can cause damage?
One of my flashes got damaged—it fires 4 to 5 times and then stops. When I went to the service center, they told me not to use it at full power.
In your opinion, is this correct or not?
Hi, you saw the speedlites being used at full power and no it doesn’t do them any damage at all.
They use to sell filters for daylight film to correct the blue colour in the shadows
Hi, yes UV filters are used to reduce blue in the shadows, usually in landscape photography but often in product and fashion work we deliberately put it back because that’s actually what the eye sees.
Did you ever decide if these projects contribute points toward the end-of-the-year prize?
Hi, no not yet as we’re not sure what we’re doing for a grand prize this year.
Looking forward to it…..
I thought that the focus is also on shadow density, which does not seem to be directly addressed in the text, “results we want to see”, though I can see it in the images – I assume that inverse square law will show a different shadow density but difficult to observe with the short distance between the golf ball and its shadow. As demonstrated by Karl, the shadow density would be much easier controlled by another light source or a reflector, rather than changing distances between the subject and the main light.
I agree, a core part of the learning seems to be about controlling the deepness and darkness, or lightness of the shadows while either maintaining the crispness of the shadow edge or being able to blur out those edges, even to the point of obliterating the edges altogether… all the while maintaining direction from the key light. For me, understanding the inverse square law either helps to predicts the result when shifting the light to subject distance or when a desired result is important to achieve.
Hi, yes that is correct but I haven’t seen this page so will take a look.