The light difference and why we still live in caves!
Much is said about our modern age. We pat ourselves on the back for all our accomplishments. And rightly so, there is been a lot of good accomplished through collaboration, exploration and just plain curiosity and determination to not let one failure or one thousand ruin the party.
There is of course the dark side of the picture but we sure have so much potential. We as humans though keep tripping over our success and sometimes we just need to go back to basics. Take the issue of light in our environment. Why do we choose to still live in caves? It may seem that the two are not related but let's explore the connection.
The typical home or office has a number of light fixtures, windows and other light sources. The earth has one, Ok, two main sources. The sun and the moon. The moon reflecting light from the sun.
Why could we categorize most homes as caves. It's the difference in ambient light. Office buildings where we work are not much better. Even when large windows are present.
As a photographer, familiar with the 'sweet light', Sunrise to about Ten or Eleven AM and from Three PM till just after Sunset, it dawned on me that indoors it is dark! Yes we run inside to stay away from the heat and Ultra Violet radiation (which is really more a problem during mid day and worse I suppose near the Equator), but therein lies the problem.
Light is good for you. Especially Sunlight. I learned this when I was in Kindergarten. Something happened between the occurrence of skin cancer, and marketing advertisements that sent us all packing inside or wearing Sunglasses at all times. Common sense (which is experienced base), is necessary here.
What is the difference in ambient light indoors as opposed to being in less just say in the shade outdoors. It is amazing how much light difference there is. We just don't sense it because our eyes adjust to it.
This morning I took my light meter (I had never thought of using in it this manner) and measured the ambient light inside my home in the kitchen. It's rather bright in there. If I were taking a photo with my camera, one setting would be and exposure at 2seconds and at aperture of F5.6. So leaving setting the same, I went outside. This is the same lighting present at just before Sunrise. 2 seconds at F5.6. The brightest part of my house then (the kitchen), has the ambient light similar to pre-sunrise lighting outdoors. That is pretty dark.
I went on the web to find out when Sunrise would occur today and it turns out that would be at six AM this morning. I waited for a few minutes and measured the light again. The difference was a seven to nine exposure steps. I was amazed. It did not seem that much brighter to my eyes. My meter told a different story. Two seconds would then require and exposure of F45 or F64.
It's a cave in my home. I have fixed some of this and brought the light difference to four steps in some rooms.
The next time a calculation of what that means in terms of light and measurements at my office.
There is of course the dark side of the picture but we sure have so much potential. We as humans though keep tripping over our success and sometimes we just need to go back to basics. Take the issue of light in our environment. Why do we choose to still live in caves? It may seem that the two are not related but let's explore the connection.
The typical home or office has a number of light fixtures, windows and other light sources. The earth has one, Ok, two main sources. The sun and the moon. The moon reflecting light from the sun.
Why could we categorize most homes as caves. It's the difference in ambient light. Office buildings where we work are not much better. Even when large windows are present.
As a photographer, familiar with the 'sweet light', Sunrise to about Ten or Eleven AM and from Three PM till just after Sunset, it dawned on me that indoors it is dark! Yes we run inside to stay away from the heat and Ultra Violet radiation (which is really more a problem during mid day and worse I suppose near the Equator), but therein lies the problem.
Light is good for you. Especially Sunlight. I learned this when I was in Kindergarten. Something happened between the occurrence of skin cancer, and marketing advertisements that sent us all packing inside or wearing Sunglasses at all times. Common sense (which is experienced base), is necessary here.
What is the difference in ambient light indoors as opposed to being in less just say in the shade outdoors. It is amazing how much light difference there is. We just don't sense it because our eyes adjust to it.
This morning I took my light meter (I had never thought of using in it this manner) and measured the ambient light inside my home in the kitchen. It's rather bright in there. If I were taking a photo with my camera, one setting would be and exposure at 2seconds and at aperture of F5.6. So leaving setting the same, I went outside. This is the same lighting present at just before Sunrise. 2 seconds at F5.6. The brightest part of my house then (the kitchen), has the ambient light similar to pre-sunrise lighting outdoors. That is pretty dark.
I went on the web to find out when Sunrise would occur today and it turns out that would be at six AM this morning. I waited for a few minutes and measured the light again. The difference was a seven to nine exposure steps. I was amazed. It did not seem that much brighter to my eyes. My meter told a different story. Two seconds would then require and exposure of F45 or F64.
It's a cave in my home. I have fixed some of this and brought the light difference to four steps in some rooms.
The next time a calculation of what that means in terms of light and measurements at my office.
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