I’ve always been able to pick out when lighting in photography or video isn’t done right. I guess you could call it a “gift of the eye”. If you green screen a scene and the temperature of your lighting doesn’t match or if the angle of the lighting is off, I think it’s the worst thing you can do to a photo or movie. To me it sticks out like a sore thumb. I’ve never been on a big budget movie set but if you have someone doing this for you, you best have the best of the best. I see it often where someone is shooting in the mid-day warm sun but the color of their subject isn’t set to match. Some may do that on purpose or they are going for a certain look. But if you’re going for a natural look, you need to get that right or you’ll ruin a really great photo or film.
I don’t know if I’m more picky than others on this but it’s the first thing I see and if it isn’t right, I’m gone. When you’re filming in mid-day light but it’s very soft light on your subjects, complete turn off. False environments are the lazy mans way of getting things done. I just watched the movie The Fall(if you haven’t seen it, DO IT!) It has to be one of the most beautifully shot films of our time. It’s a period piece and was filmed over several years and you can see how well it was lit throughout the time. Another great example is Blade Runner, its 30 years old and they filmed in very dark places and it looks amazing because of that. Still better than most films today.
I started my photography journey in the digital era, no training. So I try and stick to the old rules. I don’t use an ISO setting that there wasn’t a film version of. Film cameras may have had a shutter speed of 1/2000 so I try and not use anything above it. Technology today has made it too easy to accomplish something that those that didn’t have it, were able to pull off without it. So when I see things that are fudged by someone just to do it on the cheap, I don’t accept it and turn it off. When a Director with $100 million for a movie produces some crap and the Director with only $200 thousand budget makes a waaay better movie, I will follow those that use their resources better, faster than I would the rich kid. We’ve been shooting for over a century and I’m happy that technology has pushed us to new levels but don’t ruin great work with cheap effects. Damn you INSTAGRAM!!
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