title: Tabletop computed lighting for practical digital photography.
abstract: We apply simplified image-based lighting methods to reduce the equipment, cost, time, and specialized skills required for high-quality photographic lighting of desktop-sized static objects such as museum artifacts. We place the object and a computer-steered moving-head spotlight inside a simple foam-core enclosure and use a camera to record photos as the light scans the box interior. Optimization, guided by interactive user sketching, selects a small set of these photos whose weighted sum best matches the user-defined target sketch. Unlike previous image-based relighting efforts, our method requires only a single area light source, yet it can achieve high-resolution light positioning to avoid multiple sharp shadows. A reduced version uses only a handheld light and may be suitable for battery-powered field photography equipment that fits into a backpack.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, 3.320 Ford Design Center, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA. ankit@cs.northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Ankit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.forename: Reynold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waite
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tumblin
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grimm
authors.forename: Bobby
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bodenheimer
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003196:Computer Graphics; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008029:Lighting / Q000379:methods*; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014584:User-Computer Interface