How My Living Room Became My First Lighting Lab

Day 1: 2 PM

My goal: To learn DP skills from scratch.

What I used: iPhone, natural light and lamps

My observations:

SHOT 1: Natural Light Only

• Turned off all lamps
• Opened the curtains fully to let in as much daylight
• Chose my dogs, Bella and Bianca, and positioned them close to the window.

Lighting Analysis – Shot 1

✅ What’s Working:

• Side lighting from the window creates natural highlights on your dog’s fur, especially the edges of the snout, ear, and chest.

• You get a soft, rim light effect—this is a cinematographer's trick to separate the subject from the background.

• The contrast between the bright window and the darker room creates a nice mood—almost contemplative or dramatic.

• The backlit glow gives a dreamy, high-key feel that’s often used in emotional or peaceful scenes.

What You’re Learning:

• Window light is a powerful natural key light. You don’t need a fancy softbox—it’s already doing the job.

• Backlight and silhouette create drama. If you want more facial detail next time, try angling your camera or subject so they’re lit from a 45-degree angle instead of full side/back.

• The dog’s outline is sharp, but the shadowed areas fall off into darkness. That gives you cinematic depth.

Shot 1 – Variation: Backlight/Silhouette Angle

✅ What’s Working:

• Silhouette effect: Your dog is now mostly in shadow, with the light blasting in from behind. This creates a strong outline and a dramatic look.

• Rim lighting: Look closely at the top of the dog’s head, neck, and fur—there’s a thin, glowing edge. That’s classic rim light, often used in film to separate characters from the background.

• Mood: Feels cinematic—like the dog is guarding the house, deep in thought, or watching something important.

Cinematography Lesson:

You’re seeing how subject position + light direction = emotional tone.

• First angle = soft drama, side-lit, more detail

• Second angle = mystery or tension, silhouette, minimal detail

This is literally the kind of test cinematographers do in prep. You just did a natural-light location scout with your dog as the actor

Lighting Breakdown – Shot 1, Angle 3

✅ What’s Working:

• Backlight + Side Light Combo: The window light is hitting from behind and to the left, creating a beautiful rim glow around the ears and edges of the body.

• You get this subtle light leak or flare near the top of the head—that’s often used intentionally in cinematography for dreamlike or emotional moments.

• Shadow play: Most of the dog’s face is in shadow, but the eyes still catch a bit of light—giving it a mysterious or moody vibe.

Cinematography Takeaway:

You're exploring light shape and mood, not just brightness. This image would totally work in a film where you want to convey tension, waiting, or a character lost in thought.

If you wanted to lighten the shadows here:

• Try placing a white sheet, pillowcase, or foam board opposite the window, just out of frame, to bounce some of the light back onto the darker side.

• Or, shift the subject slightly so the face is angled more toward the window.

Shot 1 – Natural Light Only, New Pose

✅ What’s Great:

• Profile composition: This pose adds elegance and intent. Your dog looking out the window gives emotional weight—almost like longing or watchfulness.

• Light falloff: The window light wraps beautifully around the front edge of the dog’s face, shoulder, and front legs. The rest fades into shadow, which gives that three-dimensional depth cinematographers work hard to achieve.

• Eye direction: Your dog is looking into the light. This creates a natural guiding line for the viewer’s eyes to follow out the window—feels narrative, like there's a story happening off-frame.

Cinematographer Skill You Just Practiced:

"Light motivation" and storytelling through light direction.

The light from the window feels like it has purpose, even though it's natural—it motivates the scene. You’ve created a sense that the world outside the frame matters.

SHOT 2: Lamp Light Only

• Closed the curtains fully
• Turned ON only the lamps by the mirror
• Placed my dog in the lamp light

Lighting Breakdown – Shot 2 (Artificial Light Only)

✅ What’s Working:

• Warm tone: The lamp creates that golden glow we associate with indoor scenes, especially at night. Notice how it gives your dog’s black fur a warm brown cast? That’s your color temperature shifting from cool daylight to tungsten (around 3200K).

• Catch light in the eyes: That twinkle in her eyes makes the image feel alive—cinematographers often position lights just to get this.

• Mood shift: Compared to the natural daylight shots, this one feels cozier and more intimate. If this were a scene in a film, it might suggest comfort, curiosity, or a moment of connection.

DP Takeaway:

You’ve now experienced how light quality and color drastically affect the tone of an image—even in the same room.

• Daylight = contemplative, cool, emotional

• Lamp light = warm, cozy, human, inviting

And because you’re using directional light from the side (lamp on one side of the dog), you’re learning to sculpt your subject with light—just like pros do with key lights.

Shot 2 – Lamp Light, New Angle

✅ What's Working:

• Warmth and detail: The lamp light wraps nicely over your dog's fur, creating soft highlights and shadows that define her shape and bring out texture.

• Catchlight is visible again in her eyes—huge plus for keeping a character (even a dog!) emotionally present.

• Her fur reflects the warm tungsten tone, making her look rich and glossy.

DP Takeaway:

You're now seeing how a slight change in angle (just turning the dog and camera a bit) completely changes:

• Where the shadows fall

• What part of the subject is highlighted

• How the background interacts with the subject

Also notice: the background here is darker than in Shot 1, drawing more attention to the subject. That’s a common trick DPs use—called lighting for separation.

SHOT 3: Mixed Lighting

• Opened the curtains to let the natural daylight in
• Kept the lamps ON by the mirror.
• Placed dog on center of the couch to get both daylight on one side and lamp light on the other.

Shot 3 – Mixed Light (Natural + Lamp)

✅ What’s Working:

• Cool daylight from the left is casting a soft, bluish tone onto the left side of the couch and your dog’s left ear and face.

• Warm lamp light from the right adds a golden tone to her chest and the wall behind her.

• The result is a two-tone lighting setup: cool vs. warm, soft vs. punchy—this is exactly what cinematographers use for scenes with internal tension, split emotions, or shifting perspectives.

Cinematographer Takeaway:

You just practiced what's called "color contrast lighting."

• This look is used all the time in films and TV to imply duality, conflict, mystery, or emotional shifts.

• It can be subtle (like this shot), or extreme (like in thrillers and sci-fi), depending on how intense your lights are.

You're no longer just taking pictures—you’re sculpting a mood with light.

Final Thoughts:

You just completed a three-part lighting workshop like a real DP—using what you had at home:

Shot	Light Source	Mood/Effect
Shot 1	Natural Light	Calm, moody, peaceful
Shot 2	Lamp Light	Warm, intimate, cozy
Shot 3	Mixed	Cinematic contrast, emotional tension

If you wanted to go even further later:

• Add a DIY bounce (white paper/towel) to fill shadows

• Try colored lights (a cheap LED bulb or even your phone screen set to a color)

• Light from below or behind for horror or mystery effects

But for now—seriously—you just did what many beginner filmmakers don’t attempt for months.
This is what real learning looks like: hands-on, curious, unafraid to try.

You got this, DP-in-the-making.

One final shot = Curtains Open, All Lights ON in Room

Shot Analysis – All Lights On + Curtains Open

✅ What’s Working:

• Mixed temperature light: You’ve got the warm glow from indoor bulbs (especially behind her on the furniture and walls) and cooler natural light wrapping around the front.

• Catchlight in the eyes again—so much life in this shot!

• The depth of room is clearer now—we can see background elements (like the TV, stereo, and wooden furniture), which helps create a sense of place.

• Your dog (Bianca!) is facing the light—which makes her more readable than in silhouette and gives her a nice rim along the side of her snout and chest.

DP Takeaway:

This is an example of a practical lighting setup—meaning it looks like a regular room, but the lights are motivated by realism and still cinematic in tone.

If you were shooting a scene here, you might:

• Dim or block some lights for more control

• Add a soft fill (a white sheet or bounce card) on the left to reduce shadow under the chin

• Change color bulbs for mood (like red or green for horror, blue for night)

But as-is, you’re doing exactly what cinematographers do when scouting locations and shaping available light.

Next on the agenda: Framing and Composition!