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.
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