6 Metal
Many student and apprentice photographers think metal is one of the most difficult photographic subjects and consider assignments that require them to photograph metal to be nothing less than cruel and unusual punishment. However, when they master the assignment, they discover that nothing could be further from the truth. Metal is not difficult, and photography teachers have slightly less than sadistic motives when they require such work. There are about a half dozen classic subjects that all photographers are supposed to encounter as they learn lighting. These subjects teach basic techniques that enable us to light anything. Metal is one of the classic subjects for good reason. Brightly polished metal produces almost nothing but unpolarized direct reflection. This constancy makes metal a real joy to photograph. It is predictable. It plays by the rules. We can tell before we begin to light the scene what size the light needs to be. Moreover, when it does turn out to be impossible to position the light source where it needs to be to light the picture well, we can also see the problem early in the process. We seldom invest a lot of time, only to find that what we are attempting cannot be done and that we have to start the lighting arrangement over from the beginning. In addition, because the direct reflection in metal is largely uncontaminated by other types of reflections, it is easy to see how this reflection behaves. Therefore, learning to photograph polished metal helps give one the capability to see and to manage direct reflection whenever and wherever it occurs, even when other kinds of reflections compete in the same scene. We will introduce new concepts and techniques in this chapter. The most important subject matter is the simplest: flat, brightly polished metal. A flat piece of metal, without any other objects in the scene, is easy to light, even without much thought or understanding of the
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