Light Stencil

My plan was to use a cardboard box light stencil of a cross in the studio, using an external flash as the light source. Constructing the light stencil was relatively simple, thanks to the guidance of online tutorials/videos. It takes four identical isosceles trapezoid shaped cardboard pieces, held together with black insulation tape. A cardboard square (with a rectangular slot cut out, for the external flash) was taped to the smaller end of the box. On the larger end, I would fix my stencil. I created it using Photoshop, a white outline of a cross on a black background. But it was on normal printer paper, and during my digital test shoot the light came through the black area, leaving a grey/green square around the cross.

F22, bulb setting, ISO200

To try and solve this problem, I covered the entire black portion of the stencil with the black insulation tape.

 

Now, my digital images turned out like this:

These images were taken using a Canon 1000D, on the bulb setting with an fstop of 22.

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Following a positive outcome with my DSLR, I felt confident that my film version would work out well. The assignment asks for monochrome images, but my film camera (a Nikon F60 with standard kit lens) was loaded with a full roll of colour film, ISO200. Nevertheless, I went ahead and experimented with the light stencil and was rewarded with a few very clear and sharp images. And despite being shot on colour film, the images are monochrome.