Artificial light shows the transparency of an object.

In this exercise, our experimental object is a light-colored liquid. We will give the liquid a sense of transparency through light distribution.

Pour a light liquid, such as beer, ginger beer or light wine, into a transparent glass. If conditions permit, please choose the goblet in Figure 1 1.30.

Put the main light aside at an angle of 45 with the main body. At this time, if you just shoot light directly at the glass, just like shooting an apple, the surface of the glass will produce dazzling light, but the liquid in the glass is opaque. Therefore, you must find another way to deal with liquids. To show the transparency of the liquid, you should let the light shine from behind the glass, let the light penetrate the liquid and throw it at the lens.

You can move the lamp behind the set, let the light shine through the cup to illuminate the liquid, and then shoot at the camera. But there is an important detail problem: how to determine a suitable lamp position so that the light will not be blocked by the background when facing the camera? Or, if you are far away from the background, how can you prevent the light from entering the lens directly?

You can hold the lamp up behind the background and let the light shine on the glass from top to bottom. But in this way, the surface of the cup will reflect bright spots. But your goal is to create soft and uniform light behind the cup, not strong light. Fortunately, there is a simple way to help us achieve our goal.

You must put the main light on one side of the camera, and then turn the reflector upward until the background is in the strong light area and the glass is in the shadow, as shown in figure 1 1.3 1. This light distribution method can meet all your requirements: the background illuminated by strong light reflects soft and uniform light, which is directed to the camera through the wine glass. This can show the transparency of the liquid. Since there is no direct light from the glass, you can also eliminate any strong light from the glass surface at the same time. It can be described as the best of both worlds. Actually, it's that simple.

There are two other ways of working. From the figure 1 1.32, we can see the method of shooting transparent liquid with a hood. Lift the folding board until the glass is in the shadow and the background is fully illuminated.

The second alternative is to lift a piece of cardboard in front of the back of the lampshade and move it until the same effect is achieved, as shown in figure 1 1.33. If you hold up the cardboard and get in the way of pressing the shutter, you can ask an enthusiastic assistant for help, or use a cable release long enough to kill two birds with one stone.

In the practice of shooting wine glasses, you will encounter all kinds of amazing challenges. You can make the following series of attempts: put the lamp at the side of the cup at a 90 angle; Direct irradiation on the back; Catch the bubbles floating slowly in the liquid; Put a cherry in the cup or add a straw. In a word, you can do countless experiments, from which you can get beneficial exercise and exciting fun. At the end of this class, we will provide you with an example of shooting and introduce you to the most professional means to deal with this challenging shooting.

In later courses, we will explore still life photography more deeply. These three exercises only guide you to deepen your understanding of the directionality of light and its various possible lighting effects, and enhance your perceptual knowledge.