Lighting Style

 1.) This shot uses a lot of warm colors and soft lighting so that the entire painting feels warm and appears to glow. I have noticed that I usually enjoy warm colors over cool colors, although cool colors can also be visually pleasing. The beams of light are made visible with the addition of smoke. There are a few areas with dark shadows, like under the trees, which I think adds an interesting element to the frame.

 2.) Another element that I enjoy in a frame is water. So many breathtaking effects can be achieved by using water in a frame. The colors in this shot are like candy for the eye, and the reflection makes the colors pop even more. There is a lot of glow in this shot and the colors are saturated.

 3.) This shot is another one that utilizes warm colors and high contrast. Once again the lighting in the frame appears to be a beam, only offering light to one small area. The eye is naturally drawn to this area of the frame, which would be a useful tool when constructing a shot.

 4.) This is a shot with cool colors that I love. Once again water is in the shot, and the colors are deep. The moon is not as harsh of a light source as the sun, bathing the entire frame in soft glowing light. I enjoy when something in a shot (such as the mysterious looking island) is not lit as the rest of the shot is. The manipulation of darkness is just as important as the use of light and shadows. Casting a shadow in a specific shot can be just as effect in drawing the viewer's eye as a beam of light.

 5.) This frame utilizes saturated warm colors, water, and high contrast. The silhouettes even cast themselves onto the reflection below, which i think is a brilliant effect. This is a very reality based location, but the lighting almost gives the illusion that this could be on another planet or that the travelers in the photo are on some epic adventure. in my opinion lighting effects the mood of the shot far more than any other element of the frame.

 6.) This is eye candy. The colors are vibrant, but they are softened. The reflections are even softer. This makes the frame feel dreamy and also fills it with more color. The contrast between the illuminated foreground with the dark background enhances the vibrancy of the colors 

 7.) Here is high contrast, dark shadows and warm colors used in a film setting. This shot from Apocalypse Now has the light appearing to come from a singular source. This casts shadows virtually everywhere else and allows for many opportunities to manipulate the shadows. 

 8.) By using the dark shadows, the antagonist, Kurtz (Marlon Brando) is lit to be partially hidden  throughout the scene, revealing his face more and more ever so slowly. This makes him appear dark, mysterious, and the viewer is terrified to learn the truth after so much suspense has built up to the moment of reveal.

The contrast of light and darkness is a visual representation of the insanity that has befallen Kurtz