Available lighting

In this post I’m going to talk a little about lighting and how it relates to taking great photos.

Lighting one of the big three that makes a photo great; lighting, composition, and subject matter.  I’ll discuss each of these in other posts.

Photos need light.  It’s what makes them a photo.  In the old days it was a chemical process, now it’s a digital one, turning light into a photograph.  Within lighting there are basically three options, natual/available, flash/controlled, and a combination of the two.  We’ll start with the original light source, our sun.  It’s big and bright and comes in an unending variety of colors and intensities depending on what’s diffusing or reflecting it.  While direct sunlight has it’s place, and the golden hours around sunrise and sunset are a magical time, it can create blinding hot spots and black holes in your photos if you’re not careful.  Cameras are not equipped to deal with the capturing the range from hot highlight to deep shadow.  They’re much happier with either one of the other, which means moving your subject into some shade, or evening out the light a little bit.  Yes, there’s the new craze of high dynamic range (HDR), but I’m a purist and think people take it too far and it ends up looking like a velvet painting.  Used properly, there is a place for HDR, basically replacing filters of yester-year.  However to get great photos, it’s easier to take a few seconds and think about what the lighting is, and how you want to use it, then to spend countless hours in Photoshop massaging a bad photo into a mediocre one.  Let’s take a look at a few photos that give examples of different types of natural light.

Nikon F100, 50mm f5.6, Fuji Velvia Film

This boy was photographed just before a hazy sunset outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia.  You can tell that the light is very low on the horizon and therefore very directional, leaving part of his body in shade.  I had him turn slightly towards the sun so his face wouldn’t totally be in shadow and to give a little definition to his body and to pick up that golden light.

Nikon D2X, Nikon 50mm, f2.0

This photo of Amy Redford, film maker and daughter of Robert Redford, was shot under the eave of a porch to block out the harsh late afternoon sun.  Although I did make some images of her in the direct sun, this setup worked best, with the soft light filtering in.

As a photographer, I’m always scanning my surroundings for proper lighting and background options.  When shooting, I’m always aware of the direction and intensity of the available light as it determines what to do next.  You can see in both of these shots that I have the subjects turned slightly from the light source to give more depth and definition to their faces.

Nikon D2X, Nikon 50mm, f1.8

This portrait was made in full shadow outside of my studio.  After working with studio lights, I wanted to get some totally different lighting options, so we headed outside.  With the soft even light when I’m out of the full sun, I like to shoot pretty wide open, softening the light even more.

When you’re shooting in available light, you really have to work with what you’ve got.  You need to think outside the box and try create interesting vignettes.  There’s always a little corner here or there with acceptable light.  Work the light coming through a window or door, or if it’s bouncing off a white wall, even better.

To see more of my work or to contact me about a project or assignment, please visit my website, www.photovt.com.