rules of lighting

LynziMarie · Jun 24, 2008

there is always talk of the "rules of lighting"
I am very new to photography and in one of those situations where I THINK I might maybe know one or two of the rules...
but I've never seen them actually written down, I've never actually seen a set of rules.

I like to 'break the rules' and I like photography that does that... but you can't do that if you don't know what the rules are... right?

I'm sure there are alot of other beginners that wonder this same thing...

so Pros.. what exactly are the rules of lighting?

Big Mike · Jun 24, 2008

"rules of lighting"...:scratch: beats me.

The are some 'rules' with lighting that are scientific facts / laws of physics.

For example, the 'softness of light' is a result of the relative size of the light source and the distance from source to subject. The larger and the closer the light source, the softer the light will be.

Light falls off at an inverse square of the distance. So if you have a certain amount of light on the subject at 10 feet, you will have half that amount of light at 14.14 feet. (I think that's right).

LynziMarie · Jun 24, 2008

not that ya silly!!!

I mean what exactly do people mean as far as that phrase when they're talking about photography

you just confused me. haha

Bandit · Jun 24, 2008

Hmmm, I don't know of any "rules of lighting", Rule of thirds perhaps, it's the only one I take any notice of really :mrgreen:

LynziMarie · Jun 24, 2008

okie dokie!!!

that's another one that I kind of think I maybe might know a little bit of... haha
what does that exactly deal with... exactly? hahaha

it's hot. I'm slightly disoriented.

lockwood81 · Jun 24, 2008

Lighting...only thing that comes to mind for me is the golden hours...

Just before and after: sunset and sunrise.

LynziMarie · Jun 24, 2008

thanks!!!

and just because I can... I answered my own question... haha too bad I didn't google before I wasted space on here!! hehe my bad! anyways...
for other beginners....
http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/toc.html

Overread · Jun 24, 2008

same for me - 1 hour before and after sunset or sunrise for the "best light"
during those hours the light is softer and less harsh and a little less likely to cause blowouts (overexposed points).

The only other lighting tips I have are:

when shooting underexpose by 1 stop (-1) when in the brighter parts of the day under the sun as this helps to preserve the whites and prevent overexposed shots. You can brighten up a darker shot, but you can't dim a blowout and expect to get the detail back.
For getting this is aperture or shutter priority modes use exposure compensation set to -1. With full manual mode just line of the metre to underexpose by one.

After that always try to get the light behind you and thus shining onto the surface that you are photographing (if you can't then consider using flash to fill in the light - a diffuser (or some toilet paper rolled up a little and held in front of the flash) helps with this and prevent the light looking as harsh or directed