Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Photography Lighting Tips That Will Help You Take Stunning Photos


Light tells us many different things. It tells us whether the scene is safe or not. It tells us if we can trust our environment. It tells us how hostile or safe it is. There is a reason why kids are afraid of the dark, and this exercise proves we have never truly grown out of that. However, not all photos with heavy shadow creates this sense of fear. In fact depending on how we set up the photo, and photograph it, we can actually create something really interesting.

Light also have an impact on tone, texture, colour and our surroundings. We can control our light in many ways; aperture, shutter speed, using the flash, changing the intensity of the flash, using other light sources, using only one light source, using filters, altering our photos in Photoshop, moving a person from a dark room to a window and many more things. It’s very important to work with light because it helps you tell your story. And story telling is what photography is all about.

When you want a well lit scene but can’t get it, it can be extremely difficult. This can include things like shooting fast movement indoors, without the subject being too blurry. This is almost impossibility so we then use extra light sources to help us get more light so we can speed up the shutter. We speed up the shutter so we don’t capture any blur. In a case like this we make use the flash, use a higher ISO to make the camera more sensitive to light or use other lighting sources.

On saying that though, sometimes you may not want a well lit scene. Sometimes you may want to create something quite moody and intense, or alternatively, gentle and romantic. This may require dim or very little light. You can still get good photos with a low intensity of light.

Many wedding photos of the bride on her own are used with very soft light. It makes the story and overall scene look romantic. Window light is an example of light that can do this. There are other ways to create lovely photos using very little light. I’ve done it so many times. It takes time but soon you will understand light and be able to get the effects you want.

You don’t always have to photograph people when using soft light. You can put an emphasis on the shape of an object. You may only want to highlight some things and not others. Let’s take a look at an example of a photo I took with this exact theme in mind.






Canon 5D, F5.6, 1/250th of a second, ISO 4000, 105mm.

In this photo here I photographed my husband’s hands. He was in his studio drawing up measurements for his next painting. As I watched his hands glide over the canvas I couldn’t help thinking how lovely the light was. It cast a soft and warm light over the entire room. I wanted to capture the softness of the activity, by keeping the light on certain parts of the image and not others.

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

The Importance of Lighting in Photography

The Importance of Light in Photography

You’ve heard me talk about how imperative lighting in photography is, but do you really know why? You may know that getting sufficient light is crucial, but there is a lot more to the story. Light comes in a couple of ways. The first is straight light from a light source, such as the sunlight. The second way is reflected, such as light reflections from a river or another surface.

In order for your pictures to look high-quality you need the correct light. You don’t just need sufficient light, but you must have the right light to help create the narrative for your image. The warmth (colour) of light, the brightness of light and whether it’s soft or hard play a crucial part in your photography.

Let’s look at the four major things to take into deliberation when investigating your light:

1.    Intensity (brightness)
2.    Direction (where the light is coming from)
3.    Hard or soft (how much differences between light and dark this light produces)
4.    Warmth or Cool (what colour the light appears).

Digital photography lighting techniques

I can tell you how to light something in a certain way but it doesn’t genuinely show you anything about how to progress your own sense of light observation|inspection|examination|study}. I was compelled to compose this article when someone emailed me last week. She inquired “I have to photograph my grandchildren and I need to know what settings to use, can you help?” I was sad to read this because she had not understood what photography is all about. Photography is not wholly about settings. Let me repeat that; photography is not totally about settings. 

As photographers we use lighting to convey emotion. When we want a photo to convey a feeling of romance and an engaging mood we use warm light. If we want to convey a photo that tells of a hard, tough and challenging story, then we could use close, strong light with deep shadows. This creates strong contrast. It’s all in the way you utilize light that creates mood.

Light has a powerful influence on how we emotionally understand what’s occurring in the photo. There are particular things you can carry out to enrich your story such as using the flash, not shooting with  the flash and using window light instead and making use of different temperatures of daylight.

Lets look at what certain types of light express.

Low light photography without direct flash

Many photos that have low light (dim and soft light with no intense shadow) have been used in lots of stories that embody sadness, bereavement, secrets and even intimacy. Light such as this can reflect introversion of some type; whether it is positive or unconstructive.

Artificial light photography

Artificial light comes in the form of uninterrupted light, like lights in a photography studio. This lighting is often reminiscent of daylight conditions. Bright, white light can signify confidence, pleasure, sociability and energy. Flash is also artificial light. Depending on the way you utilise this light (i.e. direction and angle you shoot it from) you can recreate these emotions.

Morning light photography

Morning light is typically soft and does not contain as much brightness as the daylight we see at midday. Remember the time of year play a crucial function in the intensity of light too. On a sunny day in the summer time the daylight is very intense and very white. This will mean that that there possibly will be a lot of contrast in your scenes, such as bright areas and deep shadows. This might work well if you want to include shadows to tell your story. It does not work for quiet, romantic portraits.

Dramatic lighting photography

Dramatic lighting usually relies upon strong lighting and strong shadow areas. This is a high contrast situation where the lighting creates and impacts the mood. It is also very dependent on the number of lighting sources and at what direction the light is coming from. If you point one light source next to a persons face you can create a lot of hard shadows across their face. This will produce a very different feeling from a softly lit portrait photo taken at sundown.

Hard light photography

Using hard light can create many bright areas and deep shadowed areas that can be selected to express a story, just as dim light can. You can use this type of lighting to enhance quietness, secrets, desolation and other feelings similar to this. Alternatively you may want to photograph a black and white portrait with close, strong shadows in the background and keep your subject well lit. This method will mean that that there may be a secret aspect to the persons life or situation.

Light is not just about exposure- it’s about mood and sentiment. As you recognize lighting you can then move forward and photograph many different styles of emotions for your photos. When you take photos of the same thing with different light, that object takes on a completely different feeling. The way you think about it alters, and that’s the strength of photography.

This is why photography is not just about settings. It’s about generating powerful, emotive photos. You certainly use settings like f-stop and shutter speed to be in command of the light. You direct the light to direct the emotion and narrative.

Begin investigating light today. Examine the light you see today and ask yourself those four things. This will support you so much.

These photos are exactly the same. I took the colour photo then made a black and white copy. See how differently you feel about them and why.