The Basics of Lighting for Beginners
3:45 PMPhotography can be as easy or complicated as you want it to be. I think that many people are afraid to dive into learning about photography because it can be overwhelming. Who has the time to learn about ISO, Apeture, F stops (what do those really mean anyways). I am hear to tell you there is a ton of things to learn about photography. One of the MOST maybe even the MOST important thing to learn about photography is lighting. Lighting is everything. Your lighting it can make or break the photo. I want to discuss the basics of lighting without getting technical.
The best possible situation is to take your photos in the shade. The lighting is ideal then. You will not have shadows cast on your subject and they will not be forced to squint. The lighting is constant, meaning, there will be no extreme hightlights or lowlights. This cutie is completely in the shade. See how crisp the photo looks?
Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world and often we cannot control when and where we take photos. When this happens and you are not in shade do not fear. When you are unable to be in complete shade the next best way to position your subject is by putting the lighting to their back. When you do this is allows the subject to be highlighted. Look at the sweetness of this simple photo just from the lighting being in the right position.
Another option other than putting the lighting to the back of the subject is to put the lighting to the side. During the same afternoon here is one with the lighting from the side. Side light can create some dramatic imagery.
This little session was just a quick impromptu on our porch. You can see that just by stopping and taking a few seconds to look at your surroundings and analyzing the lighting you can really step up your image and photos.
I encourage you to pull out that camera. Blow the dust off of it and play around with it. Now a days there is no reason to not practice photography. Back when I got into photography it was alot harder. I went through thousands of 35mm rolls of film to practice. I would get a couple of images per roll and it cost a whole lot more than it does now a days. You can always erase them and try again if you do not like them. You do not even have to have a cute subject like this little guy. Go out and practice on flowers or animals or even a book.
Press On (the camera button) until next time!
0 comments