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Shadows vary tremendously as a function of the lighting sources. They can be hard edged or soft edged and contain both an umbra and a penumbra area. The relative size of the umbra-penumbra is a function of the size and the shape of the light source and its DISTANCE and quality from the object. The umbra is that part of a shadow that is completely cut off from the light source, whereas the penumbra is an area that receives some light from the source. A penumbra surrounds an umbra and there is always a gradual change in intensity from a penumbra to an umbra.
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Hi JT,
I think I'm missing something here. Let's say we are in a dark room and then we turn on the modeling lamps of our strobes. Now are subject is lit but is surrounded by darkness. The dark areas around the otherwise lit subject would be the umbra, is that correct?? And so that would make the penumbra the lit areas of my subject. Correct? In that case, it seems to me that since the darkness is surrounding the otherwise lit subject, it would be the umbra that surrounds the penumbra and not the reverse. I guess I can see both ways working, depending on the angle of incidence and the degree of coarseness to any texture in the image. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this. In any event, your explanation is great and I think I learned more from that quick blurb than I did from my photography course text book and all it's techno-babble. There is something to be said for explaining things in simple ways and you've done just that.
Thanks for sharing and I wish you a very safe, joyful, health, and prosperous new year!
Good day!
Mike
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