Through the half-open door of the office, Argentine tango could be heard, sometimes interrupted by the sounds of car horns coming from the streets of Buenos Aires, joyful children's screams, and the fast and loud conversation of passers-by. It was getting dark, people were hurrying home, or on a visit, maybe to a concert... Store windows were lit up with bright lamps, neon names lit up above the entrances to restaurants. The beginning of an ordinary big city evening.
In the office, on a carved desk, there was a lit lamp, filling the room with soft, diffused light...
……………………………………..Soft diffused light……………………………………..
The sun was rising over Rhineland-Palatinate. Here it illuminated the still dormant spruce forests of the Pfalzer Wald, the birds began to sing, congratulating each other on a new wonderful day, the squirrels crawled out of their hollow houses. The baby squirrels began to rush around in a spiral, trying to catch each other by the tail, and the older squirrels gradually descended to the ground strewn with needles, in search of fallen cones and mushrooms. The sun, having had a good laugh at the forest dwellers, set off further on its journey and pierced the waters of the gray Rhine with its rays. From the depths of the river, thousands of fish rose towards the luminary, and after a while it began to seem that the great Rhine was cast in silver. And this silver played, jumping out of the river into the air, splashing into the running waves, and the splashes of water seemed like precious stones from the caves of the Eifel mountains.
The sun's rays finally broke away from the water surface, running along the steps of the embankment behind the Cathedral of Saints Martin and Stephen, burst into the streets and squares of the city of Mainz, which immediately shone with cleanly washed glass windows of residential buildings, shop windows and stained glass windows of the cathedral. Magnificent Mainz, known as Mogontiacum during the Roman Empire, with a Roman basilica, the home of the pioneer printer Guttenberg and a Cathedral that rivals Cologne in its impact on all who see it. A city of centuries-old culture, peace and tranquility, disturbed only by the cry of seagulls and the whistles of steamships coming from the Rhine.
But the luminary did not stop there. It tried to enter the apartments through drawn curtains and lowered blinds, so that, waking up the residents, they could hear their enthusiastic words about its power and beauty. And so, having found a small crack between the closed curtains on one window of the third floor of an ancient building, it carefully entered the room where a little girl was sleeping on a wooden bed, hugging a teddy bear with a worn leather nose. Brown strands of hair were scattered across the pillow, thick black eyelashes framed her tightly closed eyes. The sun's rays began to run across the sleeping girl's face and, lifting one eyelash after another, woke her up.
The girl wrinkled her nose and rubbed her eyes with her fists, opened it and laughed joyfully, seeing how the curtains glowed in the rays of the morning sun, how rare specks of dust in the air turned golden. She got out from under the blanket and ran barefoot to the window. She pulled back the curtains, and a stream of bright light poured into her face. The girl closed her dark green eyes for a moment, but then opened them towards this light and looked out the window. And she laughed again with the cheerful childish laughter that one laughs when unwrapping colored paper on a much-awaited gift. But this day was a gift for the girl! No! It was going to be a feast! A bright day off, which she will spend with her parents, walking through the streets of Mainz, its squares, squares and parks! Walk! But first we need to wake up these “loungers”! And she ran to her parents' bedroom.
The girl opened the door and looked through the crack. Her parents snorted in their sleep, and her dad even snored lightly, and his wheat mustache rose in time with his breathing. Quietly, tiptoeing into the room, she began to creep up to the bed, barely holding back her laughter and imagining how now, imitating the clock on the Cathedral, she would loudly say: “Bam-zemmm! Bam-zammmm!”, and her mom and dad will jump up in surprise, and then laugh merrily at how they were tricked. She crept very close to her parents and was just about to “ring the clock,” when dad, roaring like a “tiger,” grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the bed. The girl began, laughing, to escape from the embrace of the mustachioed “predator,” but he was stronger and did not let her out of his “paws.” “Mommy, please become a panther!” - the girl screamed. And the mother became a “panther” - a savior, and after a small fight with the “tiger” she freed her daughter. "More! More!" - the woman freed from “captivity” demanded, but her mother said: “That’s enough for today, Esther. We need to feed the “tiger”, have breakfast ourselves and go for a walk, and then we will go to visit Aunt Frida and Uncle Solomon! “Hurray!” - Esther shouted and, jumping on one leg, ran off to wash herself.
And an hour later, when the family had breakfast, Esther's feast began. The streets of Mainz greeted the girl and her parents with smiles from passers-by, friendly handshakes from friends and acquaintances, and a strip of flour from the hand of a cheerful baker on Esther’s nose after visiting the bakery. Dad and mom walked decorously arm in arm towards the Cathedral, and the minx ran ahead, laughing and dancing in the rays of the sun, finishing the pretzel, throwing crumbs to the ubiquitous sparrows.
The cathedral towered over Esther like an ancient impregnable castle. And she began, as she had done many times before, to imagine herself as a little fairy who had been imprisoned in this castle by a formidable wizard. But can evil keep a fairy? No, of course not! Because, very soon, a huge kind dragon will arrive, in which the spirit of a brave knight is embodied. The dragon, sparkling with magical scales, will fly around the castle, examining it with its amber eyes, in search of a fairy, and, having found it, will emit a loud roar that will frighten the formidable wizard so much that he will burst from fear! It serves him right! And the fairy and the dragon will fly away to the mysterious Black Forest and live in a hut there! And Esther laughed merrily, painting in her mind a picture of how the dragon would climb into the hut, not knowing what to do with its tail!
Esther's feast continued in the Old Town with its half-timbered houses, swans in an artificial lake, which she fed from her hand, and beautiful birds offered their necks for caress. Finally, the whole family came to the house of Aunt Frieda and Uncle Solomon in a cheerful mood. How Esther loved to be in this spacious, bright apartment, diagonally across the street from her house. The walls were covered with photographs of relatives, serious or smiling, of different ages, but in almost the same poses - sitting with books in their hands; standing thoughtfully, leaning on the bureau; at the family table with candles and cups of coffee. Most of all, Esther liked the large round portrait, which depicted her great-grandmother and young Aunt Frida. A great-grandmother with gray hair like a harrier, a kind, understanding look, with a large cameo on a strict dress. And young Aunt Frida - in a sailor suit, very beautiful, but with anxious eyes... Now Aunt Frida was at a respectable age, retaining her impetuosity of movements, lightness of step, clarity of mind and an extraordinary sense of humor. She met her relatives in dark blue satin loose-fitting trousers and the same jacket with a turtleneck. On the jacket was embroidered with brown threads a design depicting ducks in the reeds and a Chinese man in a straw hat walking along a bridge over a pond. Esther's mother said that Aunt Frieda felt "chic"!
Aunt Frida opened the door and shouted: “Soli, look who came to us!” Leave your cards alone! Our little star has arrived! And her hungry parents, I hope!” “I’m hungry too!” - said Esther. Everyone laughed and entered the apartment. The door from the office opened, first the belly appeared, and then Uncle Solomon himself, the most famous preference specialist in the city. His pince-nez was pushed to the very tip of his nose, his eyes smiled slyly. Waving his hand in greeting to Esther’s parents, he picked up and threw the girl up to the ceiling, kissed her on the cheek, saying in a whisper in her ear: “Don’t tell anyone! Big secret! Frida baked teiglach for your arrival!” “Hurray, hurray!” Esther shouted, “there will be a teiglach!” But it’s a big secret!” And with this “secret” everyone went to the dining room.
Tired of a long walk around Mainz and sitting at a table with goodies, Esther slept on a leather sofa, covered with a blanket. The adults drank coffee and talked about their plans, about new opera productions in Frankfurt, about the bright future of Germany that Adolf Hitler promised. It became dark outside the window, the father took Esther in his arms, and after a short goodbye, he carried her across the street home. Mom undressed the girl and put her to bed. The parents watched Esther sniffle for several minutes, then the father hugged the mother’s waist and they went into their bedroom.
Clouds flew over Mainz, it rained, alternated between snow and sun. Days flew by, turning into months and years. But after three years, a huge switch turned on. With a grinding sound, it began to turn around its axis and, having passed the dead center, clicked. And the heavenly light went out...
No no! The sun rose as before every fine morning over Mainz. But can the sun's rays replace happiness, peace of mind, a feeling of joy? The sun enhances human perceptions, the night brings the delights of love, and the rain brings peace. Let there be a moonless night, let the cold rain beat on the windows. The clouds will disperse, and the beautiful Moon will appear, the rain will stop, and the aromas of flowers or fallen autumn leaves will fill the air... The darkness is impenetrable, threatening and merciless.
Darkness destroys a person, taking away spiritual strength, depriving him of the future, and, like a quagmire, it pulls him deeper and deeper into himself, pours into his mouth open in the last cry, and sucks out the last crumbs of air. Everyone who is deprived of everyday joys, happy moments, love and participation is doomed to slow decline. The breathing of living people begins to turn into Cheyne-Stock breathing, but they notice it at the very last moment.
Two weeks ago, darkness began to pull Esther's family into itself with the inexorability of an executioner tying a victim of the Inquisition to the wheel. Little Esther, still feeling protected by her mother and father, received a second severe blow in the morning, which she could not have withstood alone. When Esther woke up and ran into the living room to greet her parents, he saw her mother sewing a yellow six-pointed star onto her coat. “Mom, dad, I’m your star! Yes?! I am a star! I am a star!!” - and she began to spin in some kind of dance known only to her. But her mother, a charming, affectionate, peach-colored young woman who had passed on all her beauty to her daughter, dropped her head into her hands and burst into tears. Esther stopped and ran up to her: “Mom, mom, why are you crying?” She looked at dad, and with fear she saw tears in his eyes. And then, Esther noticed his jacket hanging on the chair with the same yellow six-pointed star as on her coat and the black inscription “JUDE”. Rejoicing at the morning meeting with her parents, and stunned by the star sewn on her coat, the girl did not notice this deadly designation. Esther wanted to live in love, to be protected by her parents, and to have a childhood, not a designation.
“But, daddy, you’re not a Jew, you’re a German!” Why did your mother sew a star on you too? For what?!" - Esther began to scream, fear creeping into the girl’s soul more and more. The father picked Esther up in his arms, pressed her to his chest, and, looking into his eyes, hoarsely said: “Yes, Esther, I am a German... Yes, a German! But, I am not a traitor to my wife and daughter! We came to these stars hand in hand, and we will go with them together...” The father wanted to say something else, but his voice stopped, his face turned pale, and he sank onto the sofa. “Oh my God, dear, what’s wrong with you?! - Mom screamed - Esther, it’s a heart attack! Wet the towel with cold water and bring it quickly! Dear, you and I, we are all together... Come on, lie down... You see, Esther has already brought a towel, let’s put it on your heart, and you will feel better...”
Esther sat with her mother by the sofa and looked at her sleeping father. His face turned pink, the attack passed, but his breathing was restless, he moaned. Mom held dad's hand and stroked his hand. Esther looked at her father’s large and once strong hand and thought: “Will dad be able to keep his word - We won’t let you be hurt! - which he gave her just a month ago? Will he be able to? And the memories of that terrible day came flooding back with renewed vigor -
On the eve of her birthday, Esther went to bed later than usual. She couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, tossing and turning, trying to guess what her parents would give her, what jokes Aunt Frieda and Uncle Solomon would show, what kind of cake the pastry chef Helmut, their housemate, would make. Esther stood up, picked up the teddy bear from the chair, and climbed under the blanket with it. The girl’s eyes began to stick together, she took a deep breath and fell asleep... And Esther had a wonderful dream - she was standing at the window, behind which there was a clear, clear starry sky... The huge Moon was shining, filling the street with blue, and crystal rain was falling from above, and crystal droplets with melodic They hit the pavement with a ringing sound, jump up, collide with each other, and the ringing sound intensifies... And then the gnomes from the caves of the Eifel appear, carrying brightly burning torches in their hands. And the light is reflected in thousands of lenses and it seems that the whole street begins to burn in a magical flame.
When the dull November morning woke Esther, she lay in bed for a long time, afraid of ruining the joyful impression of the dream, and... Only when the sun's rays hesitantly made their way through the clouds did she get up and run to the window. “It was really raining crystal!” - Esther said joyfully and was about to run and tell mom and dad about this, when her heart sank and began to beat very quickly. And a hitherto unfamiliar fear arose in him.
The sun's rays reflected from the huge amount of broken window glass that littered the street. The windows of the houses gaped with black holes, like toothless mouths bared in a terrible scream. One of the buildings burned out completely, and the fire covered the neighboring facades with soot. Esther turned her gaze to the house of Aunt Frieda and Uncle Solomon and what she saw made her recoil from the window. Aunt Frida was lying on the pavement. A dark puddle blurred under her head, her pose resembled an unwanted rag doll thrown into a landfill, her head was turned so unnaturally, and three steps from Aunt Frida’s body, leaning against the wall, sat Uncle Solomon. His head hung on his chest, his arms hung along his body, which was wrapped in some kind of cloth. Esther looked closely and realized what kind of fabric was wrapped around Uncle Solomon. It was a Torah scroll.
Frightened by what she saw, Esther was about to run to her parents when the door opened and they entered her room. Mom's face was white as paper, and her eyes were red from tears. Dad squatted in front of Esther, stroking her hand and said: “As long as we are together, daughter, don’t be afraid of anything... We won’t let you be hurt... We won’t let you…” Dad’s voice became muffled, he kissed Esther on the forehead, and left the room. And mom and Esther sat on the bed, hugged each other and sat for a long time, listening to city workers on the street removing glass and loading it onto cars.
Esther woke up from her memories when she heard her mother's voice. She was talking to her dad, who was reclining on the sofa, embarrassed by his unexpected weakness. “Dear, if you feel better tomorrow, we will all go to the park together. Esther needs to go for a walk; fresh air improves health and contributes to the development of the child’s abilities. Besides...We cannot show our fear, or weakness...We are ready for anything. Darling, what do you think?” - Mom tried to speak in a cheerful voice, but Esther felt uncertainty in the last question. The father looked carefully at his beloved wife, Esther, and replied: “We are ready for anything...Are we ready for the fact that they will spit on us?!”
That evening Esther went to bed with her parents. She couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, but then her eyelids closed, her breathing calmed down, she fell asleep and had a dream:
Esther sat by the window of the castle and looked into the night sky... The stars shone with a bright cold light, twinkled, winking at each other. Esther peered into the extraordinary beautiful depths of the sky, but it was not the distant luminaries that interested her at that moment. There, high, high, far, far away, a dragon sparkling with scales was flying, with amber eyes... The dragon was in a hurry to help Esther, because she was a fairy locked by an evil, despicable magician in this huge, scary castle. And then the dragon appeared in all its glory, it flew closer and closer. Now he will save her! Dragon, I'm here! And suddenly, the dragon’s eyes became dull, indifferent... He made a circle above the castle and began to rise higher... higher... back to his distant starry home... Dragon! Dragon! Why did you leave me alone in this terrible place?! Esther rushed down the huge marble staircase, and, running past the crystal mirror, she saw her reflection. She stood dressed in a blue, airy dress and blue shoes. Her hair shone in the light of the torches, her emerald-colored eyes were wide open in surprise, and a sapphire bracelet, a gift from Aunt Frida, emphasized the peach color of the skin on her arm. Why did the dragon fly away? And at that moment a yellow star with the black inscription “JUDE” sparkled on Esther’s chest -
Esther woke up crying. She understood why the dragon flew away. The dragon rushed to the aid of the fairy, but how could she be a “JUDE”? And the dragon saw no one... And Esther clearly understood that she would never be a fairy again... That the dragon flew away forever. And that now she is forever – “JUDE”. Childhood is over.
A cold wind blew fallen leaves through the streets of Mainz, forced passers-by to raise the collars of their coats and jackets, and rainwater rolled down in large drops from Guttenberg’s bronze eye sockets, resembling tears. But maybe these were really tears for thousands and thousands of blazing books in the fires of madmen? And the Darkness thickened more and more over this city, taking on more and more rough forms of existence for Esther and her parents.
Three years later, the huge switch grinded again. There was an eerie clicking sound, and the Darkness was lit up with crimson tongues of monstrous flame. This fire did not make it brighter, and this fire did not provide warmth. And the Darkness thickened more and more, and a deadly cold wafted from it. Both this flame and the deadly cold were harbingers of Hell rising from the depths of Darkness.
The wind rocked the body of the boy hanging in the noose of the gallows installed on the parade ground. The head leaned unnaturally on the shoulder, the face turned blue, and the tongue stuck out. His hands, neatly bandaged at the wrists, hung limply along his exhausted body. A few seconds ago, the boy was fighting for his life, performing a terrible dance on the gallows, as if saying: “Yesterday I was not allowed to die, as I wanted, and today I do not want to die, as you want. I am a man." He continued to fight death until the SS man, surprised by his desire to live, pressed his huge palms on his shoulders. There was a crunch of vertebrae, and the child’s life was cut short. A man in a white robe draped over his SS uniform looked him in the face and waved his hand. The demonstration execution is over. At the command of the guards, the children standing in a line turned around and headed towards the barracks in a column. Wooden clogs, like an ominous metronome, tapped out steps, the rhythm of which was constantly lost, and the guards reacted to this with angry short commands, from the sound of which the children cowered in anticipation of a blow with the butt of a carbine, or a whip. The Rottweilers began to break from their leashes with ferocious barks, and the soldiers laughed and scared the children, letting go of the leashes so that the huge dogs could reach and jerk with their powerful fangs at the child.
Esther walked in the column and cried. She cried silently, restraining herself so as not to burst into tears, like in a cattle car, when she, dad and mom were being taken to nowhere. When her dad, her beloved dad, no matter how hard he tried, could not protect his daughter from the horrors of death, from the sounds of butcher hooks piercing the flesh of those who died from exhaustion, and heart attacks of people in order to drag them to the edge of the carriage and throw them onto the railway embankment, when her beloved father, pressed her to his coat so that she would not see how a young man strangled his two children, his wife, and hanged himself on a “forgotten” hook driven into the wall of the carriage. When dad suddenly wheezed, his face first turned red, then turned blue, he fell on the dirty floor and began beating against it with his arms and legs, and then he stretched out and fell silent. Esther remembered how she screamed, “Daddy, get up! Daddy it's dirty here! Mom, do something! What’s wrong with dad?”, and heard in response: “Your father died, girl.” And in the faint light falling from the vent right near the ceiling, Esther saw a gray-haired, old woman with an absent look and a frozen face... And then the old rabbi hugged Esther and began to read a prayer... and she cried and could not stop, and her mother stood indifferently and I looked. Where she looked and what she saw, Esther never knew...
“Why do I cry, but other children don’t cry? – Esther thought, looking into the devastated eyes of her neighbors in the barracks. “Maybe because they feed me better?” When Uncle Gunther brings me a roll and milk in the evening, I will refuse!” Having made this decision, Esther felt better, her tears dried up... In the evening, Uncle Gunther, as Esther called the man in a white robe present at the execution, came and brought bread and a mug of milk. He called her out of the barracks and began to wait, looking indifferently at the girl. "I won't eat!" - Esther said. trying to catch the SS man's eye. What Esther said did not immediately reach his understanding, and when he understood, his face was distorted with a grimace of hatred. A hand pressed in a strong grip on Esther's shoulder. “Eat, you crap, what they give you!” - Gunther's voice did not bode well. She screamed in pain, and Gunther, in a strange fright, pulled his hand away. He turned away Esther's striped jacket with a yellow star and made sure there were no bruises. “You were on the parade ground today. You saw the boy die. Do you want to get into a noose? - the SS man asked calmly. Esther shook her head, realizing that her resolve was evaporating. She took the food and began to eat, mixing bread and milk with her tears. When Esther swallowed the last piece of bread, Gunther took the empty mug and said: “I will tell Aunt Elsa that you are obedient. She will be pleased with you. Go to sleep"
--
Esther lay down and tried to sleep. During these little over four months of life in the concentration camp, she had already become accustomed to the nightly groans, sobs, and crying of children in the barracks. Esther looked at the neighboring bunks, where two days ago a girl from Austria was lying, with whom she really wanted to make friends. When Esther told her about this, the girl looked at her with sad eyes and replied that they could not be friends. "But why?! – Esther asked worriedly. “You don’t like me?” We are lying next to each other. How much can we tell each other!” “There’s so much you can tell... - Esther’s bunk neighbor repeated – Esther, Esther... we can’t tell anything... I’ll soon die.” And with these words the girl turned her face to the wall and fell silent. And yesterday she did not return from the hospital building, and almost all the children who were taken there did not return, just as many have not returned during this time.
Esther remembered how the train that had been carrying Jews from Mainz for so long arrived at the station. Everything repeated: commands, dogs barking. But here they were all forced to get out of the cars. She tried to be closer to her mother, to take her hand, but she pushed her daughter away, her face was frighteningly alien. SS men walked between the rows of people lined up along the already closed carriages and pulled men, women and children out of them. When the sorting was completed, commands were heard, and the girl saw her mother scurry about unusually, pressing her hands, clenched into fists, to her chest. Through tears, Esther watched as the column in which her mother was running was taken further and further until she disappeared behind the gate. “Where were they taken? Why were we all separated? Why were the other children left with their parents?” - She asked these questions to the young woman standing next to her. She looked at Esther in bewilderment: “Didn’t you hear? They were taken to the showers for sanitation. Why without us, without you...I don’t know..."
Another joyless morning has dawned, of which there have already been many. Esther lost count, realizing its uselessness. For some minutes the sun peered in through the small window of the barracks. Rays of soft, diffused light illuminated the gloomy interior of Esther’s terrible shelter. They illuminated and disappeared, as if they were afraid of what they had to see again.
The doors to the barracks opened, two men in striped camp robes with yellow six-pointed stars on the chest brought in a cauldron of boiled rutabaga and pieces of moldy bread. The children got up from their bunks and lined up for what could hardly be called food. Esther did not approach them. She must wait for Gunther.
When Esther finished the bread, washing it down with milk, the children had already been taken away. The girl sat on a bunk all alone in the dead silence of the barracks. “Why am I fed better, why didn’t I get a tattoo with a number on my arm, where is my mother?” - questions arose in her head in a continuous and familiar sequence. Esther received no answers, and there was no one to ask. The only thing that began to brighten up the gray days was the appearance of Aunt Elsa.
Aunt Elsa - this is the name Esther heard from Gunther as soon as he singled her out from the many children scared to death standing in line for a tattoo. The tenacious gaze of a tall man with a pale face, gray, unkind, attentive eyes and a sharp nose made Esther shrink. A chill ran through the girl's body. She extended her left hand to the SS man sitting at a table on which needles were laid out and a cup of blue paint stood, but Gunther put his large hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The SS man glanced casually at Esther and nodded his head in understanding.
Gunther pushed Esther out of the barracks and, looking over the girl’s head, explained that she was lucky. I was lucky in a way that others can only dream of. Esther became interested in Aunt Elsa, a very good doctor and a kind woman, but, in turn, Esther must be an obedient girl and follow all her instructions. Aunt Elsa herself will return to camp after resting in about two weeks, and Esther must eat well all this time and obey him - Gunther.
Neither two weeks nor three months later Aunt Elsa arrived. But a week ago, when Esther, in her usual solitude, was sitting in the barracks, trying not to remember the bright days of her childhood filled with happiness and love... Driving away thoughts of swans on the pond in Mainz, dad’s kind and strong hands, mom’s joyful laughter and so on Aunt Frida's delicious teiglach, when the door swung open and a young, slender brown-haired woman in a white robe literally burst into the barracks.
“Where is my Esther?!” Where is my girl?! – the woman shouted cheerfully, “Are you Esther?!” She walked up to the girl with a light step, who jumped up from her bunk when she appeared, grabbed Esther by the hand and spun her around. "Amazing! Simply wonderful! - Aunt Elsa continued to speak loudly, as Esther understood - Gunther is great! You know, Esther...No, I will call you Peach! Did you like peaches? Gunther is happy with you! True, there was one case when you decided not to listen to him...But you won’t make mistakes again?! Am I right?!” The woman’s face became stern at these words and Esther hastened to agree. “That's right, Peach! I'm glad you understood me! - said Aunt Elsa, “And since it so happened that we immediately liked each other, I allow you to tell me what you want most!” “I want to meet my mother!” - Esther answered without hesitation, looking hopefully into the blue eyes of the female doctor.
“Meet mom...” Aunt Elsa repeated in bewilderment, throwing back her head and laughing. Her sharp laughter, reminiscent of the cry of a night bird, seemed to break the silence of the barracks. “Of course you will meet mom! I can even promise you that, Peach!” - the woman said confidently, smiling at her thoughts at these words. Esther believed this young, pretty woman who was so kind to her, and smiled, feeling a glimmer of hope for something reminiscent of the joy in the past.
From that day on, time flew faster, Gunther picked up Esther and took the girl to Aunt Elsa, to her office, in a long one-story building, located not far from the barracks. The building was white, with two entrances to it. Esther entered through the door at the front façade of the hospital, as indicated by the red cross on the sign, and the other wide doors through which children were led were located at the end.
Aunt Elsa greeted the girl with a constant smile, treated her to cookies, and then Gunther weighed her on the scales and gave her an injection, from which Esther experienced unpleasant and painful sensations, but endured it, remembering her promise not to make mistakes. At the direction of the female doctor, Esther took a shower every day, after which her skin was treated with some kind of liquid. And Esther’s skin became softer each time, and her color began to acquire a brighter peach hue. Aunt Elsa became more and more cheerful with each medical examination, joked with Gunther, and affectionately nudged Esther. And yesterday Esther took advantage of the woman’s cheerful mood and asked her: “Aunt Elsa, you promised me that I would meet my mother... When will this be possible?” Gunther glanced quickly at the doctor, but she calmly replied: “Peach, I have never deceived anyone, not even people like you... You will meet your mother on the day when I myself come to pick you up in the morning. This day will be our common holiday. Now Gunther will take you to the barracks. I need to think about this holiday."
The door to the barracks opened, and Esther saw the silhouette of Aunt Elsa. “She came for me today! Today is a holiday and I will see my mother!” - Esther thought joyfully. The woman took a few steps towards the girl and extended her hand. “Come with me, Peach, it’s time for you to meet your mother,” the female doctor’s voice sounded muffled. Esther ran up to her and grabbed her outstretched hand: “Today, right? Will I meet my mom today?! Where is she, why didn’t she come with you, Aunt Elsa?!” - the woman’s hand clenched, and Esther felt pain, but the girl did not pay attention to it. She longed for a meeting that could turn her whole life around and return happiness to her heart. The doctor ran her tongue over her lips, her pupils dilated, her eyes turned from blue to almost black: “Peach! Your mother is waiting for you at the hospital, let’s go quickly!” She almost dragged Esther with her out of the barracks. The sun hit the girl’s eyes, she closed them, and when she opened them, she saw how the world around her had changed in an instant. Everything remained in its place - the towers around the perimeter of the camp, the smoking chimney of the crematorium, the barracks painted gray. But the colors became brighter, more welcoming, the spring sun warmed stronger, and her mother was waiting for her at the hospital... “Why is mom in the hospital? – Esther became worried. “Is she sick?” “What are you talking about, Peach, your mom can’t get sick! - Aunt Elsa said confidently, “He can’t do it anymore...” Esther didn’t catch the sarcasm of the last words, and could she even do it?
The girl and the female doctor walked side by side to the hospital building. A security guard with a huge Rottweiler on a leash was walking towards them. And when the Rottweiler passed by Esther, he suddenly sat down on his hind legs and, looking at the girl, howled heart-rendingly. The SS man silently pulled the leash, the dog stopped howling, and walked next to the owner, looking back at Esther and the doctor.
Esther began to experience anxiety, the reason for which she could not find. After all, everything was going well. Now, in a minute she will meet her mother. But why did the dog howl like that? Aunt Frida once said that dogs howl to death. Why meet at the hospital if mom is not sick? Why is Aunt Elsa so nervous, squeezing her hand more and more tightly? "It hurts me!" - Esther couldn’t stand it. “Are you hurt, Peach?!” – the doctor asked in a strange, dull voice. “But what do you know about pain?” About real pain?! Let's go, Peach! Today is our holiday!”
They approached the end entrance to the hospital building, Aunt Elsa opened the door and pushed Esther inside. Esther saw a long corridor, with walls painted white and doors of the same white color. Sterile cleanliness reigned here. It was unusually quiet. And Esther was afraid. No, she began to feel afraid of this corridor along which she had to walk. And suddenly the girl realized that her mother was not here. Otherwise, she would have already run towards her to hug her. “My mother is not here...” said Esther. “Why did you decide that?” - Aunt Elsa asked her. “Mom isn’t here! My mom is not here!!” - Esther shouted. “Shut up, you vile creature!” – a harsh voice and thrown words that had never been heard before only frightened the girl even more. “I'm not going anywhere! I want to go back to the barracks! Mom’s not here!” - Esther began to pull her hand away, trying to free herself and run away to hide in the barracks. “You're ruining my holiday! You're ruining the holiday! You're ruining the holiday! - and after each phrase, heavy blows began to fall on Esther’s face, skillfully inflicted by an experienced hand. Esther's nose and ears began to bleed and she began to lose consciousness. The woman picked her up and carried her to the far end of the corridor. Esther's head dangled from side to side like a rag doll, she saw only the white ceiling of this terrible corridor, and then everything disappeared...
“Gunther! Gunther, open the door, she's here! - the SS woman shouted. Her face turned pale and twitched, her breathing became ragged. The heavy, felt-lined door swung open, and the woman handed Esther into Gunther’s hands. “Punish her, this trash!” - Elsa screamed. The second man, dressed in a butcher's apron over a white coat, shuddered and put aside the syringe with anesthesia. Gunther undressed Esther, who had not regained consciousness, and placed the girl on a stainless steel table, vaguely reminiscent of an operating room. The surgical lamp flashed brightly and the door to the corridor closed tightly.
Complete silence reigned in the empty corridor... And it reigned for a long time, it seemed like an eternity. And suddenly, in this sterile corridor, in this complete silence, the sound of a bell was heard. It was anxious, indecisive, reminiscent of the cry of a child. But, immediately, many other bells rang... There were more and more of them, and that first bell could no longer be heard. And then everything went quiet. What was that? Has Esther's soul united with the souls of many children who have passed along this corridor before her? Or were these the souls of all the people killed in different ways in different places? Only one thing is clear - little Esther’s soul has found its peace.
In a distant country, in the study of a huge apartment, where the sounds of Argentine tango could be heard from the street, a table lamp was switched on and off. An old woman's hand turned it on and off. The woman's blue eyes, faded with time, looked at the lamp with a strange, almost loving feeling. When the lamp flashed, the room was illuminated with soft, diffused light. And this warm light was provided by a lampshade made of the finest leather of a rare peach shade. Esther's skin.
Before setting up your lighting for studio photography, the first step is to decide what arrangement of light sources will create the effect you intend. Will your light fall into the hard category or will it be soft? What's the difference between them?
Let's first look at their main characteristics, and how each of them feels when photographing the same subject.
Hard light in studio photography
In general, hard light is a single source of light directed at a distance, such as the sun on a clear day or a flashlight at night.
This hard light source produces high contrast, where the transition between highlights and shadows is very clear and easily distinguishable.
In some cases, this contrast may appear too harsh (and undesirable).
Soft light in studio photography
On the other hand, a soft light source is larger, wider, and the light is located relatively close to the subject. On a cloudy or overcast day, when diffuse light is reflected off a large concrete wall, this could be an example of a soft light source.
The light tends to be nice in areas of contrast, with highlights containing more detail and shadow edges soft and open.
It's a nicer light overall, but it's not necessarily a single light source.
Many factors influence the quality and type of light on set. The direction may be set by the art director or the client, who asks that photographs be created in the spirit of an existing style. They may ask to recreate natural light conditions (such as hard sunlight in a hot desert hitting shoes, or cool early morning light hitting a set table).
The subject itself can also have a big impact on what light you choose. Highly reflective objects (such as glass or chrome) or high contrast objects can present quite a challenge to a photographer when trying to illuminate them with a hard light source. If you use only it, then fighting spectral highlights or preserving detail in shadows and highlights will be a real pain.
If you're lucky enough to have a client give you creative freedom, or you're working on your own project, you'll be able to illustrate a mood or emotion by choosing appropriate lighting. Careful selection of the lighting scheme, a combination of hard and soft light sources will help you achieve the desired result.
How to install hard light
To create a hard studio light pattern, place the key source (flash with a 12" modifier) to the left and slightly behind the subject. The initial beam may be too wide, so to concentrate it you can add a 35 degree reticle for the modifier.
For this setup, final adjustments were made to the height and position of the key light so as to change the angle and length of shadows on the table and floor, as well as to illuminate the corners of the computer monitor in a pleasing manner. A 4′x8′ sheet of black foam board was placed on the left side of the location to deepen the shadows and eliminate unwanted reflections. Two smaller sheets of white foam board were installed lower on the front and on both sides to preserve the details of the table's front edge and legs.
A second light with a 7” mesh modifier was mounted high at the back of the location. Its angle was set to highlight the top right corner of the background, as seen in the photo (right).
How to install soft light
To create the soft light pattern, the key light was placed in the same location, but using a 4′x4′ diffuser panel placed between the light and the subject. Remove the grid from the key light to widen the beam. The black cardstock is replaced with white to fill in and open up the shadows (but the two sheets at the front remain). The background lighting is pushed back, the grid is removed, but a diffuser disc is added to soften and cover the entire background. This makes the entire area bright and softly lit with plenty of light filling the image (left).
How to change a hard light source to a soft one
There are times when you've positioned your lights and find that you want to go a different route. In this case, it is enough to simply change the type of light source from one to another. You can diffuse hard light to create soft light by placing a diffuser material between the source and the subject, allowing you to control the angle and gradient of the light. You can also simply attach a softbox to soften the light and even make it wider. You can take a soft light source and, by changing its distance to the subject, make it hard and more focused. You also have the ability to redirect the light using reflectors, umbrellas, or craft supplies to soften it and make it less directional.
Combining hard and soft light
A final piece of studio photography advice is to be flexible with your lighting designs, regardless of years of experience. You may have an idea in your head of how you want the photo to end up looking, but you'll find that on location the subject looks different in different lighting conditions. Be prepared to try and explore, as often a combination of hard and soft light can bring out the best in a product.
An example of a soft light with a hard edge (push or accent) light from behind. Notice the hard shadows on the table in front of the cups - this is created by the hard light.
Once you fully understand soft and hard light sources, you can combine the two techniques. For example, a location should have edge lighting to add mood or dimension to the image, or to add emphasis to certain elements in the frame. Mastering both types of light will allow you to have complete control over your lighting and the final image you create.
This article will discuss the concepts of “hard” and “soft” light, the features of their production and scope of application.
Light is the most important component in photography and the main tool of the photographer. In most cases, the quality of photographs greatly depends on the photographer's understanding and ability to create the necessary lighting. Light has many characteristics - brightness, temperature, wavelength... Among photographers you can often hear the terms “hard” and “soft” light, especially in portrait photography, how can this be?, because you won’t be able to touch the light. Let's find out!
The concepts of “hard” and “soft” light are relative and the same light source, in different shooting conditions, can be both hard and soft. On what parameters then does the light depend? Let's look at some illustrative examples made on 3D models.
The main difference between hard light and soft light is the transition gradient between light and shadow areas. If you look at the places circled in red, you will see that on the face on the left the illuminated part ends abruptly and turns into shadow, while on the face on the right the transition from the light to the shadow area is smoother.
Now let's move from the three-dimensional model to the real one:
In a photo with hard light, the shadow turned out to be clearly defined, with sharp boundaries, while in a photo with soft light, the shadow is more blurry and the transition from light to dark (shadow) is much softer and almost unnoticeable. As you may have noticed, photography with soft light looks more attractive, so it is believed that portraits using soft light as the main source look better (if you are photographing a girl, shoot with soft light).
Now let's look at hard and soft light using the example of a baseball.
I hope you can easily determine in which case the photograph was taken with hard light and in which with soft light (above - hard light, below - soft light).
Factors affecting the type of light
The size of the light source relative to the size of the object being photographed;
The distance from the light source to the subject.
If you photograph a person's face in the light of an incandescent light bulb, the light will turn out to be harsh because the light bulb is smaller than the person's face. The sun on a clear day is also a harsh light source (and a big problem for the photographer), even despite its enormous size, since it is very far away relative to the subject being photographed.
If the sky is overcast, the light will be soft, since the sunlight passing through the clouds will be scattered. For the size of the light source in this case, we will no longer take the sun as such, but the clouds that scatter directed sunlight. Clouds are much smaller than the surface of the sun, but are much closer to the subject (which is why photographers rejoice when it's cloudy outside).
Hard light can be used for textured “male portraits”, as well as in cases where it is necessary to emphasize the texture and relief of the subject.
The use of hard light brought out the texture of the skin, while the deep shadows added contrast and drama to the photos. Now let's see what happens if we photograph a girl with hard light.
I took this photo when I was just starting to take up photography, using one light source - a flash, which conveyed the texture of the stone wall well, but the shadows on the girl’s face do not look very beautiful (if you are a beginner photographer, try to avoid taking portraits of girls with hard light, they you won't be forgiven for this =)
In the following photos, hard light helped highlight the texture of the jewelry and cosmetics, as well as show off the texture of the leather of the handbag.
But what to do if using hard light is not desirable, how to soften it?
Ways to soften the light
- light scattering. Any translucent object is suitable for this; place it between the subject and the light source. Photographers use umbrellas for light and reflection, softboxes, octaboxes, diffusers (sold together with reflectors), but it can also be a sheet, a curtain, anything that can diffuse light;
- light reflection. Position your subject so that only reflected light hits it. This is why photographers shoot indoors by pointing the flash at the ceiling.
It must be taken into account that when softening the light by scattering or reflection, a significant part of it is lost and the illumination of the subject will decrease, as a result of which it is necessary to make adjustments to the shooting parameters (increase the power of the light source or increase the shutter speed, open the aperture, increase ISO).
What features does soft light have? In contrast to hard, it hides flaws and defects of the surface being removed well, makes the model’s skin more attractive, and makes the transition between the shadow and light areas more invisible.
And finally, examples of our photographs with soft light:
Good luck with your shots!
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Lighting plays an important role in photography. It can bring a photo to life by adding interesting effects, dramatic shadows and silhouettes, but if used incorrectly, it can end up with unwanted highlights and reflections in your photo.
This guide is written to introduce beginners to one of the most important aspects of photography: lighting. The guide consists of 3 parts. The first talks about hard and soft light, the second talks about artificial and natural lighting, and the third talks about light intensity and depth of field.
Part 1: hard and soft light
This section addresses the fundamental question of the difference between shooting with hard and soft light.
Hard light creates well-defined, dark shadows and usually comes from a single source, which is usually small or very far away. At the same time, soft light creates soft shadows, or does not create them at all. Such light has several sources, is scattered or reflected from various surfaces, falling on the subject at different angles. In natural lighting conditions, hard light can be observed on a cloudless day when the sun is high above the horizon. Beginning portrait photographers should avoid shooting scenes with this type of lighting. But cloudiness, fog, or even industrial air pollution create soft lighting, since sunlight is partially reflected and scattered along its path.
It is important to remember that the size of the light source is inversely proportional to its hardness. So, the smaller the light source, the harsher the illumination it produces.
Soft light You can also create your own using diffusers and reflectors:
- Diffusers. Clouds are an example of a natural scatterer. Any translucent material is suitable for artificially scattering light. So, special curtains on flashes or even ordinary white cloth can be used between the light source and the subject. The main thing is to correctly select the degree of transparency of the material and the strength of the light pulse (if shooting is carried out using artificial light sources).
- Reflectors. Reflecting light essentially creates another source of light. The photographer can control its direction and angle of incidence on the subject. In addition to professional reflectors, you can use ordinary sheets of paper for these purposes. Both natural and artificial light can be reflected.
Both types of light have their advantages and disadvantages. Hard light can be used to create images with high contrast to highlight shapes and textures. It is also good for enhancing the 3D effect, adding dimension and dramatic effects to an image. However, hard light is difficult to work with and is generally considered unsuitable for many (if not most) situations, especially people photography.
Soft light, on the other hand, creates even illumination that better displays the colors and shapes of objects. Naturally, the choice of light type depends on the genre of photography, the subject and the desired effect, but soft light is usually preferable and is by far the most optimal and safe option for beginners.
Part 2: artificial and natural light
Obviously, natural light refers to direct sunlight or normal daylight, such as indoors. And all kinds of fluorescent lamps in various household or industrial appliances can act as sources of artificial light.
Natural light
Natural light is less controllable and varies significantly depending on a range of conditions such as time of day, weather and geographic location. It does not require the use of any additional equipment, although, of course, the same diffusers and reflectors can be used. The question of choosing between using natural or artificial light is obviously more relevant for portrait or product photography. In the case of landscape or wildlife photography, the photographer's choice is usually limited to natural light.
Among the factors influencing the nature of natural light, it is worth noting the following:
- Weather. As mentioned earlier, cloudy weather is often considered preferable by photographers because cloudy skies create soft light. But cloudiness is not always perfectly uniform, and its density also varies. This is worth taking into account, since the intensity of the light depends on it. And natural phenomena such as hurricanes, storms or even ordinary fog are also worth trying to use for the benefit of a photograph: a black sky will give it drama, and the light scattered in the fog will give the landscape a sense of depth and improve perspective.
- Times of Day. You can usually get milder lighting conditions early in the morning or late in the evening. In addition, the light is warmer at this time. Sunrise and sunset are often considered the ideal times to shoot landscapes and portraits. But during this time of day, lighting conditions change very quickly, both in terms of intensity and color. On the one hand, this allows you to get a series of varied shots in a short period of time, but on the other hand, there is a risk of missing a truly perfect moment. During sunrise and sunset, shadows change their intensity and shape. So, at sunset the shadows lengthen and become less intense, but in the morning the opposite is true.
- Geographical location. There is a pattern that the further you are from the equator, the longer you can watch the sun rise and set. Thus, mild morning or evening light conditions last much longer in such areas and, conversely, pass much faster in close proximity to the equator.
- Air pollution. Like water vapor in fog and clouds, particles from industrial air pollution scatter light rays, making it less intense and softer.
Artificial light
When working with artificial light, a photographer faces the same problems as when shooting in natural light. But in this case, he has complete control over the light sources, their number, location, angle, brightness and hardness. In addition, different artificial light sources have different color temperatures. For example, halogen bulbs are cooler and produce light that has a blue tint, while tungsten bulbs produce a reddish tint. All these nuances must be taken into account and kept under control to obtain the desired result.
When it comes to controlling and manipulating light, there are many options, depending on whether you're dealing with artificial, natural, soft or hard light. It all comes down to understanding how the final image depends on lighting conditions, its selection and management, as well as adjusting camera settings (in particular, white balance) and further processing of the photo in graphic editors.
Part 3: Light Intensity and Depth of Field
In the final section, we'll talk about the importance of light intensity and what beginners should know about it.
When shooting, the camera requires a certain amount of light to capture the image on the sensor. The amount of light captured by the sensor is determined by three parameters: ISO (sensor sensitivity), lens aperture and shutter speed (camera shutter speed).
Photography can be carried out in various conditions. For example, a sunny day for landscape photography may seem ideal to a beginner, but in such lighting the high light intensity tends to increase contrast and degrade the level of detail. At the same time, cloudy weather and diffused light, as we remember, will help level out these shortcomings, improving color accuracy, smoothing out gradients, softening shadows and preserving the texture of objects. But the ambient light intensity is lower and low-light landscape photography requires a slower shutter speed and/or a higher ISO.
ISO
Excerpt
At the moment of photography, the shutter located directly in front of the matrix opens, thereby letting in the required amount of light. The longer the shutter time, the more light will be captured by the matrix. When photographing moving objects, a high shutter speed is necessary in order to “freeze” the subject in its motion. At the same time, they are useful at night when the camera needs more light to create an image. You can compensate for light sensitivity while keeping it within acceptable noise levels. To further stabilize the camera in such cases, a tripod is useful.
Diaphragm
The aperture is the opening in the lens through which light enters the camera sensor. The size of the aperture is controlled by a special device called. Naturally, the larger the diameter of this hole, the more light enters the matrix in a certain period of time and vice versa. are displayed as F/ values. Thus, small values (for example, from F/1.0 to F/3.5) indicate the maximum relative aperture diameter parameters. With this opening of the aperture, the greatest amount of light enters the matrix. And the F/22 value indicates a closed aperture and a limited light flux passing through the lens. The aperture setting range may vary between lenses.
It is the aperture that controls the depth of field - the distance between the closest and farthest points falling in the plane of focus. The larger the hole diameter, the shallower the depth of field.
Automatic mode
In Full Auto mode, the combination of aperture, shutter speed and ISO is chosen by the camera itself based on its perception of the most appropriate settings for the particular moment of shooting. In many cases this produces decent results, but experienced photographers take amazing photos solely using manual camera settings. However, for beginners, this mode will be very useful in many cases, leaving the opportunity and time to concentrate on other aspects of shooting.
Manual camera control
Depending on your current shooting requirements, you can use different camera control modes. The most common shooting modes are shutter-priority, aperture-priority, and full manual (for more experienced photographers). In each of them, the ISO value can also be set manually, or left in automatic mode.
In aperture priority mode, the photographer presets the aperture value, for example to control depth of field, and the camera calculates the optimal shutter speed. This is generally the preferred option for shooting landscapes (with the aperture closed) and portraits (with the aperture open).
In shutter priority mode, the shutter speed is manually set while the camera's automation selects the remaining parameters. This mode is used, for example, when photographing sports events (short shutter speeds are important to capture athletes in action) or in the case of night photography (extra-long shutter speeds are necessary to capture maximum light).
In full manual mode, an experienced photographer who understands the impact of certain shooting parameters and their interrelationships gains absolute control over the shooting process.
Well, you can find out what camera shooting modes there are.
IMAGE
And again and again a note about the next lecture by Alexander Shimbarovsky (subject - Photographic Art).
At the very beginning of the lecture, we talked about the practical use of flash, and the operation of a tilt-shift lens was also demonstrated, but since I already described all this in sufficient detail in the note before last, I will not repeat myself too much. I’ll just mention a couple of new points.
When working with flash, a higher ISO allows you to better study the background (background).
External flashes, which are attached directly to the camera, can be used as an alternative to monolights. This alternative turns out to be more mobile and such flashes can also be synchronized with each other. To do this, they have switches like: Off - Master - Slave. Off - autonomous operation, i.e. synchronization is turned off, Master - the flash is the master, i.e. gives a signal to the slave flashes to fire, Slave is a slave flash that will fire based on the signal from the master flash.
After a short workshop, we returned to theory again and looked at the types of light (based on the role of light in the frame) and the main lighting schemes used when shooting.
Before considering lighting schemes, it is imperative to understand the types of light, what kind of light is called and what tasks it performs.
Main types of light
Each lighting source in the studio has its own name depending on its location in the studio, purpose and force of influence on the subject being photographed.
Key light as main light
It is placed in the near sector in front of the model, but placed above the axis of the camera lens. The primary task of key light is to illuminate the most important elements, to emphasize the volume and shape of the object or model being photographed. Competition from other types of light is unacceptable - they can only complement key lighting. Simply put, the key light can be called the main light. Self-drawing light is rarely used, since it provides contrasting lighting, which makes it difficult to work out details in shadows or highlights due to the large range of brightnesses.
Let's list a number of disadvantages of key light if it is used as the only source.
The physical properties of the light source (in particular, we are talking about the drop in luminous flux) do not allow the background to be properly illuminated. The background remains contrasting due to the difference in lighting between the model itself and the subject and background.
The lighting is only partial: the model is half illuminated - the side with which the model is turned towards the light source.
Choosing a place to set the subject takes a lot of time. The fact is that problems arise with shadows, of which there are a lot: on the face, on accompanying objects, in the background, etc.
With key lighting, it is impossible to use the background as an element to balance the composition.
For all its shortcomings, key light has its own textures and helps make the final image more vivid and contrasting.
Often the image of a single source of painting light is called Rembrantian and a certain similarity of the finished photographs with the artist’s brush is noted. The scarcity and laconicism of the coloring light allows you to highlight the active character or object and leave it in the viewer’s field of vision.
Painting light is also characterized by its beauty and complexity. True, the main problems arise primarily due to imperfection.
To fully work with any light sources, you should remember two basic rules:
1. Each of the listed light sources is usually installed separately.
2. Control over lighting is established only through the camera viewfinder.
Fill light
Essentially, fill light is general, uniform lighting. In terms of intensity, it should be weaker than the drawing one, as a rule, by two or three levels. It is known that the brighter the fill light, the weaker the pattern, the lower the light contrast, especially if we are dealing with a flat image. Sometimes the role of fill can be played by modeling diffused light. On-camera flash is often used as fill light.
So what is a fill light for? It softens the light and shadow pattern of the photograph and makes the shadows less deep. However, there are situations when its use is not necessary. These are: a dramatic female portrait, a black-and-white male portrait, a light-toned soft portrait. In other cases, fill light works to the benefit of the photographer, so it is worth knowing about its features.
To create fill light, soft boxes and reflective panels, light panels, and light disks are used. The fill light source is located as standard: in front or next to the camera, diagonally in front. There is an opinion that the fill light source should only be placed from the front, because otherwise rough double shadows will appear in the photo. But, if the photographer uses a soft box or light disk, placing them close to the model, the risk of additional shadows can be avoided.
If you use only fill light, the frame will be flat, lacking contrast.
Together, fill and modeling light create a fairly harmonious picture.
If we want to use a non-black background, and especially if the model’s hair blends into the background, it’s worth connecting additional light sources, which will be discussed below.
Backlight
Backlight is also called contour and accent light. It reveals the shape of the entire photographic object or any part of it, and also “tears” the object from the background. In order to obtain a light contour line, the backlight source is located behind the object at a close distance from it. You can adjust the thickness of the light contour line in a photograph by increasing or decreasing the intensity of the backlight. Backlight serves to highlight the light accent. With its help, the texture of hair, clothing, etc. is emphasized.
One technique based on backlighting is kotrazhur(Contre-jour, shooting against the light).
Background light
As the name suggests, backlight illuminates the background against which the subject of the photograph is depicted. It can be uniform or uneven. Background light has two purposes. It creates additional spatial depth in the photograph, separating the subject from the background, and illuminates the background, emphasizing its texture and color. The intensity of the background light should be lower than that of the painter.
The background light source is set so that the light areas of the object are drawn against a dark background, and the dark areas against a light background. Hard light sources are used to create background light. They form a light spot of a fixed shape and size or evenly illuminate the background. There may be several sources.
Modeling light
Modeling light is a low-intensity directed beam of light used to produce highlights that improve the transfer of the volume of an object and illuminate shadows in order to soften them, and sometimes completely eliminate them. Depending on the purpose and creative ideas, modeling light can be soft or hard.
The direction of the light flux can be very different - from front to back, which is determined by the photographer’s intention. In this case, the modeling light, to one degree or another, inevitably affects the density of the shadows, brightening them the more, the closer these shadow areas come into contact with the areas on which the modeling light is applied.
Modeling light is an auxiliary lighting component. It must be harmoniously correlated with the key light, always taking into account its predominant importance in the distribution of lights and shadows on the object.
I will tell you about lighting schemes in subsequent notes, since during the lecture we were given a very superficial idea of the four basic schemes, but they promised to work it all out in more detail during practical classes in the studio. I think that after these practical lessons I will describe all the points related to lighting schemes, otherwise if you now try to understand the topic using Google, there will be no material left for subsequent notes and will have to be repeated)
And within the framework of this note, I will also mention that light can be soft and hard.
Soft and hard light
The concepts of “hard” and “soft” light are relative and the same light source, in different shooting conditions, can be both hard and soft. On what parameters then does the light depend? Let's look at some illustrative examples made on 3D models.
The main difference between hard light and soft light is the transition gradient between light and shadow areas. If you look at the places circled in red, you will see that on the face on the left the illuminated part ends abruptly and turns into shadow, while on the face on the right the transition from the light to the shadow area is smoother.
Now let's move from the three-dimensional model to the real one:
In a photo with hard light, the shadow turned out to be clearly defined, with sharp boundaries, while in a photo with soft light, the shadow is more blurry and the transition from light to dark (shadow) is much softer and almost unnoticeable. As you may have noticed, photography with soft light looks more attractive, so it is believed that portraits using soft light as the main source look better (if you are photographing a girl, shoot with soft light).
Factors influencing the type of light:
The size of the light source relative to the size of the object being photographed;
- the distance from the light source to the subject.
The larger the light source and closer to the subject, the softer the light. And vice versa, the smaller and further away, the tougher it is.
If you photograph a person's face in the light of an incandescent light bulb, the light will turn out to be harsh because the light bulb is smaller than the person's face. The sun on a clear day is also a harsh light source (and a big problem for the photographer), even despite its enormous size, since it is very far away relative to the subject being photographed.
If the sky is overcast, the light will be soft, since the sunlight passing through the clouds will be scattered. For the size of the light source in this case, we will no longer take the sun as such, but the clouds that scatter directed sunlight. Clouds are much smaller than the surface of the sun, but are much closer to the subject (which is why photographers rejoice when it's cloudy outside).
A hard count emphasizes the grain and texture of your subject and can make a photograph appear more contrasty and dramatic.
Ways to soften the light
- light scattering. Any translucent object is suitable for this; place it between the subject and the light source. Photographers use umbrellas for light and reflection, softboxes, octaboxes, diffusers (sold together with reflectors), but it can also be a sheet, a curtain, anything that can diffuse light;
ABOUT light reflection. Position your subject so that only reflected light hits it. This is why photographers shoot indoors by pointing the flash at the ceiling.
It must be taken into account that when softening the light by scattering or reflection, a significant part of it is lost and the illumination of the subject will decrease, as a result of which it is necessary to make adjustments to the shooting parameters (increase the power of the light source or increase the shutter speed, open the aperture, increase ISO).
What features does soft light have? In contrast to hard, it hides flaws and defects of the surface being removed well, makes the model’s skin more attractive, and makes the transition between the shadow and light areas more invisible.
That's enough for today...
To be continued...
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