Page 53 - Lighting the Un-lightable Volume 1 #3

the light in the right front of the scene. When the strobe was placed in the right front corner its light
broke across the other lights. The results were a consistent volume of light any where in the space.

So what makes the volume of light consistent? Simply put, when the tonal difference between black
and white is one F-stop the volume of light is consistent. As the tonal difference between black and
white exceeds two F-stops, the volume of light becomes increasingly inconsistent and therefore more
problematic. Remember - a difference of one full F-stop means that the difference between black
and white is double. A difference of four F-stops would mean that the difference between black and
white would be on the order of 32-fold. While the human brain can compensate for such a significant
variation easily, the camera cannot. Detail, color, texture, contrast and a sense of space are all lost or
diminished. And consequently, so is the emotional experience.

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