The Importance of the Light



If I could offer a step-by-step method of taking a photo, the very first thing I'd tell people is:

1. Notice the light. 

Lighting is so critical to photography that it's amazing sometimes that we don't pay more attention to it. The kind of light you are working with can affect the impact of your photo, the color of your photo, the sharpness of your photo, and also a whole range of ways that the camera will capture the photo.

Light has different properties to it, but the ones that I generally remind people to pay attention to are:

Direction: Where is the light coming from? Can I alter it's direction for a better photo? Should I move myself or my subject? Overhead light looks different on people and things than side lighting

Color:  Almost all light sources common to us give off some sort of color cast. Whether it be a blue cast, a green cast, an amber or orange cast. Paying attention to this can also play an important role in the mood of your photo.

Hardness/Softness: How "hard" the light is has to do with how stark the contrast between the light and shadows are. Again, this affects the mood of the shot, and also can determine if conditions are ideal for a picture.

Amount:  To some degree,  this is the most important thing. You can't take a photo without light. The more of it you have, the better off you are. Sometimes, depending on the situation, the light might be so poor that you would probably be better-served just putting the camera away and enjoying the moment. Controlling a camera in really poor lighting is quite the struggle and results in generally blurry or noisy images.

We all can improve our photography skills if we begin to train ourselves to pay good attention the light and it's properties.

Thanks for reading.

Popular posts from this blog

Control How Your Camera Views Light

Image
Cameras don't see light the way we do. In fact, they see significantly less of a range of light and darks than we do. Because of this, they can sometimes be fooled. However, despite their limitations, understanding the different ways in which they measure light can help any photographer improve upon the results. But to do this, we need to understand something called "metering". Metering is the way that your camera evaluates the scene and responds with the appropriate settings. For instance, if you point the camera at a bright sky, it's going to give you different settings or tell you the light is different, than if you point it at a dark grove of trees. Because not all scenes are created equal, camera manufacturers have invented things called "Metering Modes". Thankfully, these are pretty common among all cameras. Let's look at 3 of the most popular modes. 1. Matrix or Evaluative metering: this kind of metering is the default setting on most ca...
Read more

Manual Mode: Shutter Speed

Image
Yesterday, we looked at how aperture will affect your exposure when you are in manual mode. The next setting we need to examine is Shutter Speed. Shutter speed is simply that: the speed at which your shutter opens and closes when you make an exposure. Shutter speed is measured over time, and is often referred to as "Time Value" (Tv). Generally, you take photos in fractions of a second, but that all depends on what you are photographing. For now, let's talk about light and shutter speed. Simply put, the faster your shutter speed, the less light you have. The slower your shutter speed, the more light you have. When it comes to exposure, you must choose a balance with your shutter speed that will allow your camera to get enough light for the exposure and also to be quick enough to not let your exposure be blurry. This is naturally a balancing act with photographers, adjusting both the shutter speed AND the aperture to get them an accurate exposure. To adjust these ...
Read more