light

[weepete]

So, it's a subject that isn't discussed much in the beginners section but is critical to how our pics turn out. So how do you decide how to light a photo (both natural and flash) and how do you deal with lighting that is not ideal?

 

[pgriz]

You're gonna hate the answer, but it's: "Depends". (and not the elasticized version either).

 

[pgriz]

More like - where do you want the highlights? Where do you want the shadows? How smooth should the transition from light to shadow be? How much contrast do you want/need? How much detail do you need in the deepest shadows? The answers tell you whether you need a single hard source, or wide source, and/or fill, or...

 

[Designer]

Sometimes the subject inspires the light.

Sometimes the light itself is the inspiration, and then I invent the subject and set up the scene based on what I envision the light to be.

Sometimes I already know the subject, and just have to get some light on it somehow.

Sometimes the scene is already there, available light and all, just waiting for the picture.

Don't over think it.

 

[TCampbell]

Lighting does a lot of things so what you do with lighting depends on what result you're going after.

Fundamentally, we call it "light", but really we're looking at the light/shadow combination. You can't have "good" light without "good" shadow.

If the lens and the light are in the same spot then the lens wont see any shadow. That results in a flat image. It looses it's dimensionality. The shadows help us notice the dimensionality (the 3D contours) of a surface. So the first thing you usually want to do is get the light to come from the side (and by side I don't mean a 90º angle... I really just mean get it farther away from the lens.) Just getting the light away from the lens will create shadow and give dimensionality to the surface. You'll be able to see textures and contours.

If the light originates from a pinpoint source then that light will create shadows with extremely well-defined edges. If you want to do a shadow puppet show with your hands and fingers you want a pinpoint light source. If you broaden the apparent size of the light source by putting a screen in front of it or reflecting it off a large parabolic umbrella or a number of other light modifiers you can create a light source that seems to be several feet wide. That light would create very soft gentle transitions from light to shadow (which is what most people love). If you were trying to do a shadow puppet show ... such a broad light source would be awful. All your shadow puppets would be soft and blurry because you have a broad "diffuse" light source.

Photographers refer to this as "diffuse" light. I've seen so many products called "diffusers" that snap onto the end of your flash and it looks like frosted plastic. The problem is, they don't make the light source any broader than it already was. This confuses people into thinking that this is "diffuse" light and it's supposed to be better, but the reality is it's just as harsh as when you didn't snap on the little plastic "diffuser". It's no wonder beginners get frustrated and think flash sucks.

You can use light to suggest emotion. How you place the lights can suggest emotions such as despair, loneliness, solitude, peace, happiness, joy, etc. Dimly lit images with mostly blackness and light coming well from the sides and casting long shadows tends to suggest "dark" emotions. Well-lit images with mostly white backgrounds and a glow of light tends to suggest "bright" emotions.

There's a whole new dimension to photography just based on how you light the images.

 

[gsgary]

This model is not the most beautful but when she gets her clothes off and is lit from behind she looks fantastic

http://gsgary.smugmug.com/photos/i-XBgHDGn/0/XL/i-XBgHDGn-XL.jpg

 

[gsgary]

This was shot at a hunt my partner was on at the start of the hunt, not great lighting

When i'm out shooting i always carry a handheld light meter and im checking light all the time so i'm ready to shoot without having to set my camera, in the afternoon the light suddenly changed for about 2 minutes and i got this shot

 

[imagemaker46]

You always work with the light and not against it, work around light that isn't perfect, and as my dad says "if you can see it, you can shoot it" As this is the beginner thread, I will add something that has been said before. If you see a photo you like, the light isn't perfect, if you then add a flash and the photo no longer looks as good, you have chnaged what you saw and created a different image.

 

[HerkFE]

In one of the books I was reading it was suggested that for outdoor shooting find the good light and once you find the light find a subject that is interesting in that light. Basically the thought was that you can wait days or weeks for a good subject to have the proper light but once you already have great light it's not too hard to find something to capture in that light.