I'm Aline Deschamps and this
is my Redline Challenge.
My field of photography is documentary
and I like to tell the stories of people.
What I try to do is to
make it also aesthetic.
What I really like about low light photography
is that it really gives that intimate aspect
to your photography.
Because it is something that you don't really see
with your own eyes
your camera actually creates
almost like another world.
So in this shoot I'm trying to document how
young people socialise in Beirut
and we're just going to witness how
they live their life during the evening time.
Hello.
I'll be setting myself one challenge:
to turn off all the main lights of the apartment
and I'll try to see how I can play
with all the remaining lights.
By doing so I really hope to capture things
on an intimate level with my subject.
I'll be working on the very edge
of what is enough light
to get good shots.
So I have to be creative with the choices I make
and how I use my camera.
So, I'm taking my friend Omar's picture
while he's doing his sport routine.
Trying to find the switch off.
And I'm trying to aim for a very
dramatic kind of atmosphere.
Omar has this lamp
that is actually the only lamp he really uses
in his room.
And I'm just trying to
move the lamp around to see what different
shadows it creates, how the lighting can be different
from one side to the other.
Because he's doing some sport I have to put the
shutter speed quite high but not too high, either
because otherwise it will be too dark
and this allows me, because it's high speed,
to really get some darkness as well in the scene.
Don't be afraid to let a part of your photo be black
or to really put it in real darkness
because what can be also very nice
is just to show the outline, to show the really
subtle silhouette that you can get with
just one light.
I think the atmosphere that you can recognise from this shot
is something that can remind you of a very old painting,
the ones from the Renaissance
ones that are painted by Rembrandt.
There is a subtlety and there is a warmth
and there is a play with the shadows and the contrast
that is very striking.
It has taken thirty minutes to get to this point
where Omar forgot about me and so I'm here
trying to capture him in a very vulnerable moment, almost
where he's just like resting.
And you'll never get a tender shot like this
in bright light.
I think what's important when you're making documentary
and you have low light
is to see all the possibilities
to play with reflection,
with lighting that is available to you.
In this shot what I'm trying to do
is really to play with every element that is
in the room.
So with one hand I'm trying to
capture my subject that is sitting on the bed,
and with my foot I'm trying to move the mirror
in order to get that reflection
that will highlight the other part of his face.
And the benefit of using reflection in lowlight photography
is that it really increases the amount of lighting
in your frame.
You're just, like, waiting and it's cool, no?
My subject is reading
but I'm thinking what if I put the flash of my mobile phone
also inside her book so her face
will really be lit up in a very interesting way
that is striking to the audience.
It really gives like an atmosphere, a mystery.
Look how nice it is with the roses.
And I'm deciding to try to play with the shadows
and therefore to add another element that was
already in the room but is the plant.
Just moving an element that was already inside the room
allows to completely give another perspective to this image.
There are just two flashlights actually coming from two smartphones
but just by those little details you can really enhance
a story that is already in front of your eyes.
What I'm getting now in this shot is a low angle view
which is really nice because it really creates
another dynamic for the image where
we see the salad, we see the meal but
we also see the candle lights.
And those candle lights, in a way,
trick the viewer into thinking that
those small candle lights are the ones that
highlight the face and the whole scene
when actually there's also external lights to it.
But that mystery of the candle lights really gives
more dynamics, more emotions to the image.
In this shot I'm trying to take my subject in his own bubble.
Something where he can be seen as unguarded.
Can you just look over where you were just before?
His face is completely glowing and
actually it's glowing from his mobile phone.
It contrasts quite well with the really warm
ambient light glowing from the house.
Try to play with warm and cold lights when you can.
I think it's good for documentary photographers to
try to create a narrative where the viewer can wonder
what is the story behind your image.
In this photo we can see that there is a broken window,
we can see that the subject is looking at his phone.
He looks quite attentive to his phone
at the same time he is completely detached from
what is going on in the house
and this low light atmosphere really adds to the mystery
you can get from this image.
I've just shared with you my little tricks to
capture life in low light.
It's just about playing, playing with shadows,
playing with reflection, playing with the atmosphere.
And low light can be a really nice way to reveal
the intimate moments of people's everyday life.
I hope I've inspired you to create your own
Light in the dark images
and I can't wait to see what you come up with.