This is a made up digital example file. This will be used to:
- Check if the enhancer works
- Have an example to build an example
Nocturnal shadows
Example post #1
Example post #2
This is a made up digital example file. This will be used to:
- Check if the enhancer works
- Have an example to build an example
Example post #2
This is a made up digital example file. This will be used to:
- Check if the enhancer works
- Have an example to build an example
Example post #2
This is a made up digital example file. This will be used to:
- Check if the enhancer works
- Have an example to build an example
Example post #2
This is a made up digital example file. This will be used to:
- Check if the enhancer works
- Have an example to build an example
Light
This page is dedicated to a relatively new phenomenon: “digital” shadows.
I refer to the shadows cast by modern street lamps as “digital” shadows. Many small light sources arranged in a grid (so called LED arrays or matrix LEDs) cast shadows which, when overlapping, produce patterns which look like pixels.
Night
For millions of years the night was dark, and insects and other nocturnal animals have adapted to this. They orientated themselves towards the moon or other weak natural light sources at night. These light sources, such as the moon and the stars, influence not only the day-night cycles but also reproduction…
Light
However, the number of nocturnal insects in Europe is continuously decreasing. And the illumination of the night is progressing: with the invention of the light bulb around 140 years ago, the cost of lighting fell massively, while the number of light sources per inhabitant rose (and continues to rise) sharply in return. Even though problems such as ’light pollution’, the negative impact on nocturnal insects and the ‘disappearance’ of the stars have long been recognised and an effect on melatonin production, for example, is suspected, in recent years the uncanny alliance of an increased need for security and increased energy efficiency has tended to lead to an increase in night-time light sources…
Shadow
The “new” or “digital” shadows are a relatively new phenomenon: even though the light bulb was allegedly “banned” by the EU in 2009, the technological change to LEDs for street lamps took a little longer. Even today the process has not been completed everywhere.
The next page illustrates how the shadows are created.
Phenomenon
The phenomenon shown is created by the superimposition of shadows cast by parallel light sources. The visualisation can be controlled by touching or scrolling.
Projekt
Idea
The idea for the project is already a few years old, originally conceived as a short series for YAAPB, it lay dormant for over half a decade. Even though it wasn’t realised in that time, I used the time to get a little more involved with street and city lighting at night.
At the beginning of this year (2024), the time had come: in late winter, the first analogue and digital test shots were taken, the latter to serve as placeholders for the website. In the area of analogue photography, the low amount of light for night shots posed a particular challenge. Which camera and which film was used in each case is noted in the respective contributions.
The website offered the opportunity to familiarise oneself with some of the features of modern browsers, in particular the HDR support.
In addition to the documentation and illustration, it is also important to me to show the broader context and the resulting problems: So what is described with “light pollution”. Basically, the site is also intended to stimulate discussion about the need to illuminate the night.
High dynamic range
As I am particularly interested in the dialog between the analogue and digital worlds, the images were enriched with an additional contrast layer. As a result, some of the images appear ’luminous’ in an HDR-capable browser. This also serves as an illustration to train the viewer’s eye for subjective perception.
Acknowledgements and Links
HDR
The HDR images were processed with libultrahdr. Knowledge and tools are based on the preliminary work of Greg Benz and others. The HDR converter has been inspired by the work of Albert Zeyer.
Typography
The variable font Handjet from Rosetta Type is used for titles and headings. This font allows the manipulation of different axes via CSS. This makes different appearances easily configurable via a stylesheet.
The Variable Fonts page from HEX Projects offers an overview and provides the possibility setting the various parameters directly in the browser.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Art
During the research and realisation, I came across the volume “Fotografien der Fotografie. Generative Systeme 1960 bis 2020” by Gottfried Jäger, published in 2023 by S. Wienand Verlag, Cologne (ISBN 978-3-86832-751-9), fell into my hands. As the structures shown here have a certain similarity to Jäger’s pinhole structures, his work is mentioned here.
Literatur
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Thomas Posch, Anja Freyhoff, Thomas Uhlmann (Publisher): Das Ende der Nacht. 2nd Edition. Published by Wiley-VCH, Berlin 2013, ISBN: 978-3-527-41179-5
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J. Alexander Schmidt, Martin Töllner (Publisher): StadtLicht - Lichtkonzepte für die Stadtgestaltung. - Grundlagen, Methoden, Instrumente, Beispiele. Published by Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN: 978-3-8167-9935-1
Colophon
Page
This page was generated with Hugo.
The fonts used are Handjet and
This site uses modern web technologies (if supported by your browsers) such as WebGL, Variable Fonts and HDR Images.
The following Javascript and CSS frameworks and libraries have been used:
Development
The following tools were also used for development:
3D model
The 3D visualisation has been created with Blender.
Inspiration for effects
Hosting
The site is hosted by GitHub.
Privacy policy
The privacy policy was taken from opr.vc.
Contact
Contact is possible via E-Mail.
My other blogs
My other blogs are listed on Projektemacher.org.