Best way to achieve light effect???

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Hello

I've just started a photography course and I'm currently beginning my first project. I want to experiment with using light as the main subject of my photographs - the idea is that the light will be representing a greater force (ie. God) and the photographs will be about spiritualism. Has anyone got any ideas as to the best way to achieve this effect??

The other thing I want to do in the project is to build up a narrative through the series of photos. If anyone has any good ideas for this, I would be really grateful if you'd share them. I've got a couple of ideas but to be honest I'm getting a bit of a mind block! Would appreciate anything that may get me back on track.

Thanks xx

-- Nicola (theshawster@whsmithnet.co.uk), November 07, 2002

Answers

How about a church or a church cross peeking out of the fog? Bright sunlight reflecting off a cross with the background blurred or dark.

-- Tim McDonald (timothy_o_mcdonald@whirlpool.com), November 08, 2002.

hey Nicola - I've done many photos in churches of all denominations, maybe because I'm not real religious but have a desire to be (who knows, thats a thread for a psychiatrist to deal with) ... but in any case, I have found that ministers, priests, etc. are very willing to let you come into their churches during off hours to photograph. All that its ever cost me is a few prints ... its nice and quiet and the religious fodder is abundant. Because of the nature of the church, the light tends to be dramatic and moody .... also, make sure ya bring a tripod and grab an old scratched filter that realy serves no funtion (if ya don't have one, usually you can get a used one at the local camera store and they'll pull it out of a junk drawer) and just put a little bit of vaseline on your finger and rub it on the filter (not to much - you'll have to experiment) and shoot through it for that "god-like" etherial glow ... let me know how it works. bill

-- Bill Kennedy (artguy313@aol.com), November 10, 2002.

one more suggestion - shoot at a fairly wide aperture, 2.8, 4. 5.6 is probably as open as I'd go ... just to let the background and some foreground go soft ... again fro effect. bill

-- Bill Kennedy (artguy313@aol.com), November 10, 2002.

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