Understanding and Using
Photography Lighting

But, there are more considerations than simply having too little light. You can actually have too much light. And, to make it more confusing, you can even have too much AND too little light in the same picture.

By understanding the impact that different types of photography lighting can have on your picture, you can then figure out how to use these effects to your full advantage.

Photography Lighting Known as Back-lighting

Depending upon what affect you want, you can use back-lit situations to your advantage.

Or, if left to chance, back-lit situations can create photographic disasters. Here are some samples of using back lighting as a specific type of photography lighting.

As you can see, back lighting is what turns the subject (in this case, a palm tree) into a silhouette, against the sunset. In this case, it is a good thing and adds to the artistic nature of the picture.

When using a back-lit source, it doesn't have to technically be light. For example, when taking a picture of a subject in front of a bright sky, this will produce a back-lit situation even if the sun is not visible as a light source.

There are two critical aspects when working with the back-lit situations. The Metering Mode on your camera determines the lighting conditions, and your digital camera's "brain" then determines the best shutter speed and aperture that should be used to create the type of picture you want.

Unfortunately, there is a serious but subtle flaw with this approach. The camera cannot read your mind, and therefore doesn't know what type of picture you want.

Most of the time, this is not a problem. However, in the world of photography lighting, back-lit situations are often tricky because there are several effects you can create from any given situation and the camera does not know what you want

What you want to do in capturing a silhouette, is to use matrix metering, because this approach takes into account all available light and averages the result to set your camera's aperture and shutter speed.

When taking a picture of a bright background having one dimly lit subject in the foreground, the camera will think your "subject" is a lot brighter than it is. That is because your camera will think your subject is everything in the viewfinder, not just the subject in the foreground. This will underexpose your subject and turn them into a silhouette.

To avoid this result, you will need to use fill flash. A fill-flash will “fill” your subject with the required light, resulting in a properly lit subject as well as a bright background. Let's move on to the next form of photography lighting.

Photography Lighting Known as Side Lighting

In order to achieve this type of dramatic impact, pose your subject in front of a window, with one of their shoulders facing the camera. You can rotate the subject relative to the window, in order to achieve different intensities of light and shadow on their face.

Your camera will expose properly for the bright side and will cast the other side in shadows. If you do not want this type of effect, there are two things you can do. One is to use fill flash, as discussed above.

The other is to use natural lighting without a flash to produce an overall softened effect.

Using something like a white reflective surface (poster board, for example) will reflect light onto the darkened side of the face and produce an added depth to your photographs.

Photography Lighting Known as Diffused Lighting

Sometimes, the best thing to know about lighting is when to NOT TAKE A PICTURE. Sometimes, the available light is just going to be too harsh.

This is when you want to soften the incoming light and reduce some of the contrast for a more pleasing photograph.

Be aware that there are certain times of the day which are good (as well as bad) for taking pictures.

The best time of day to take pictures is when it is slightly overcast, or when the sun goes behind a cloud.

The same effect can be had when your subject is in the shade. In that case, the light will be much more natural and will result in a better photo.

The worst time of day to take outdoor pictures is at high noon because generally that is when the sun produces the brightest light.

Most beginning photographers think that shooting photographs when the sun is overhead, is an ideal time because of the availability of so much light.

Unfortunately, colors will be washed out and the shadows are too dark. (This is the direct opposite of the photography myth that the best photography lighting occurs in bright sunlight.)

Photography Lighting Known as Artificial Lighting

On-camera flashes are easy and relatively automatic to use. However, it is very common to produce a red eye effect by doing so.

This situation can be handled before the picture is taken by using an external flash. An external flash can only be used if your camera is equipped with a hot shoe.

On the other hand, if you have already taken the picture and notice red eye after downloading it to your computer, you can often remove red eye with photo-editing software.

Here are some final tips regarding photography lighting:

• Most on-camera flashes lack the power to properly light subjects more than 10 feet away. Consult your owner's manual or the manufacturer's website for specifics.

  You can know everything there is to know about photography lighting, bought if you're at a concert, 200 feet from the stage, there is only so much you can do.

• To correctly photograph subjects farther away than 15 feet, you'll need to use an external, more powerful flash unit.

• On-camera flashes often causes red-eye when photographing a subject looking straight into the camera because the beam of light is parallel to and too close to the axis of the lens.

  An easy way to help in avoiding this is to direct the subject to look slightly away from the camera.

• When using indoor lights, make sure to adjust your camera's white balance.

Tripod

Flash Photography

Fill Flash

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