I don't want to get to deep into technique, and settings, just to share a few useful tips of how to use light in photography. As you know light plays a critical role in how our photographs turn out.
Well, first we need to remember there is no one "right" light.
Light can be used in different ways, and bad lighting for one kind of a shot, could be helpful for a different kind.
For example nature photographers seek certain light conditions (or only shooting in specific types of light). When shooting portraits often the lighting set up needs to be different. Artistic photography needs different light depending on the mood the want. Black and white photography needs different lighting, and I didn't even mention when there is not enough natural light and a flash is needed…
Lets examine light by the three conditions of color, direction, and quality.
Imagine for a second how it affects the outcome of the picture.
For example sunset will get you the orange color.
Light entering from the window will have a specific effect in terms of how the light is directed on what ever is in the room.
Light that is reflected from a wall, and not directly from the sun, will get a better quality and spread.
So, always examine the light you see by those three conditions to know whether you can improve the photo.
The color of Light
Color affects the mood of an image. The color of light is often connected to the warmth, and so we use the white balance (WB) to emphasize certain tones, or manipulate others. We can simplify the color of light down to three basic categories of color: neutral light (no strong hue), warm light (tinted with yellow, orange, and red), and cool light (tinted with blue).
Neutral light
Neutral light is one that has no special effect in terms of color, To find this conditions we need to shoot as far as we can from both ends of the day (not in very early morning or in late afternoon). Light from a direct, overhead sun on a clear day may have a fairly neutral color.
Tips:
* Photographers that wish to use neutral light need to beware of certain conditions. Heavy cloud cover will likely shift the color of the light toward blue. Also, shadows generally have a bluish tint.
* Light that is filtered or reflected in any way may pick up a hue. For instance, a photographer standing in a forest will likely find that the light has picked up a green hue from the leaves overhead. Urban wall painted orange, will reflect orange color on everything in its shade.
* Beware of including both lighten and shaded place in one frame. You will get over exposed parts (if you meter the light from the shade) or under exposed (if you meter from the light).
Warm light
Warm light is best found just after sunrise or just before sunset. Just after sunrise and before sunset, the sun is low on the horizon. This causes the sunlight to travel through more of the thicker air near the earth (the air gets thinner the higher one goes in the atmosphere). As a result, much of the blue part of the light is scattered. This leaves a warm light. This also effects the direction of light, but we will get to that later.
Tips:
* You can emphasize the reddish tone by shooting in WB of shade. The results will get you deep red tones, rather than orange. Using under exposure in these conditions will also get you deeper colors.
* I always recommend using these light conditions for classic silhouettes, when you meter the light from the sky, and all in between becomes silhouettes.
Cool light
Cool light can often be found in the time between the first light of day and sunrise as well as between sunset and darkness. These twilight times often cast a soft, dim, bluish light over the terrain. Blue light can also be found under cloudy skies and in shadows.
Cool blue light is caused by the same phenomenon that causes warm light. Air molecules scatter the cool, blue light more than the warm, red light. This explained why the light just after sunrise and before sunset was warm, but what happened to all that blue light that was scattered? It was scattered into the sky. This is why the sky looks blue.
During the twilight times, the sun is below the horizon. The landscape is illuminated by the sky alone. The light from the sky has a blue tint due to the scattered, blue light. This is also why the shadows are blue as they get most of their light from the sky rather than light directly from the sun.
Tips:
* Use cool light for tender atmosphere; it's hard to get a dramatic effect with cool light.
Color and Saturation
Saturation refers to how much white light is mixed in with the color.
Saturated colors contain very little or no white light. That is why they are very vivid. Unsaturated colors have been diluted by the addition of white light.
Tips:
* Since color affects the mood and impact of an image, saturation plays a big role in that. Myself, I don't like strong saturation too much, though often photographers want rich, intense colors.
* You can use sunsets are an example for good use of saturation. The best sunset images contain very saturated colors. Therefore, photographers need to understand what factors can be used to control saturation.
* A polarizer filter is another way that can be used, in many situations, to increase the saturation of colors. Part of the light that dilutes saturation is polarized light.
Quality of Light
The quality of light is often described in terms of hard or soft light.
These terms may seem a bit nebulous. If you tell a non-photographer that you took a picture in soft light, she will probably have no idea what you are talking about.
Hard and soft light can be characterized in terms of contrast, shadow detail, and dynamic range.
Hard light
Hard light is a very direct, harsh, often unflattering light. Hard light tends to lack shadow detail. Hard light generally creates feelings of harshness or starkness. Often, this is an uncomfortable feeling. This can work to the detriment of the photographer. For instance, a beautiful flower shot in hard light conditions will not look very attractive. Part of this is due to the harsh contrast and dark shadows. Another factor is the fact that hard light generally tends to desaturate colors. So, in addition, the flower will have washed out colors.
Tips:
* Hard light can be used to emphasize harshness or starkness. For instance, a photographer may choose to shoot a desert scene in hard light in order to emphasize the harsh nature of the environment.
* Black and white is classic for hard light, since it will get the result of strong contrast and the lack of details in the shadows will work well.
Soft light
In many ways, soft light is the opposite of hard light. It can be a very diffused and flattering light. Soft light has low contrast. The bright areas and shadowed areas tend to blend together more easily than in hard light conditions. The transitions between sunlit and shadow tend to be gradual, rather than the knife edge effect often seen in hard light.
A hazy or cloudy sky will produce soft light. This is one of the reasons that cloudy or even rainy days are good for flower photography. It is also one of the reasons that much of the best landscape photography is done at the beginning or end of the day.
Tips:
* Soft light tends to create a feeling of comfort. It is the type of light used most often in landscape photography to enhance the feeling of beauty of an area. In addition to the gentile blending of light and shadow
* Soft light usually produces more saturated colors than hard light.
* Use soft light for portraits. That will get you better details and compliment the model
Direction of light
The last characteristic of light is direction. Specifically, it is the direction of the light with respect to the direction of the line from the camera to the object being photographed. There are three primary directions of light: front, side, and back. Each of these directions of light has it own characteristics and has an impact on the mood that an image projects.
Front
Front light hits images head on (from the front or overhead).
Front light tends to produce flat looking images. The texture of the objects tends to be minimized with front light.
Front lighting is often found mid day. At that time, the sun is directly overhead and tends to hit objects in a rather direct manner
Tips:
* Simply try to avoid shooting with front light, or at least use fill flash.
Side
Side light is low angle light that hits objects from the side. It can be a very dramatic light. Side light occurs when the sun is low on the horizon. This means that photographers can take advantage of sidelight early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
Side light can also happen when shooting inside a building and the light enters from the side (window or door).
Tips:
* When the sun is low we get classic side light, with long shadows (that I like so much
). Try using the shadow as the subject of the picture.* Since the shadows plays such an important role, it shows a beautiful affect in black and white.
Back
Back light hits objects from behind so that the light is shining toward the camera lens. It can also be a very dramatic light, but it can also create some challenges for the photographer. Silhouettes are one of the most common types of backlit shots. In the case of silhouettes, the dynamic range of the image is too great for the camera to capture (the light source is very bright while the backlit, opaque objects are in shadow).
Backlighting is great for creating images with a touch of the dramatic. In the case of silhouettes, form often takes on more importance than detail.
Tips:
The fact that the light is shining toward the camera causes a number of problems for photographers.
* First, light shining into the lens can create flare. This occurs when some of the light bounces around between the lens or filter elements. If the camera has a filter on it, removing the filter may reduce the flare.
* Second, digital cameras don't tend to deal well with bright light sources shining down the lens. In particular, when photographing the sun, digital cameras tend to produce bizarre banding along the edges of the sun. Switching to film may produce better images in this case.
* Lastly, the large dynamic range of backlit scenes may prevent the photographer from capturing detail in parts of the scene in which he desires to hold detail. In this case, the photographer may resort to using fill flash, or digital blending of images taken at different exposures.
In conclusion
It's hard using all this information while trying to capture something "freestyle".
This knowledge comes to mind with experience. All you really have to do is be aware of light and the way it will affect your photo. With experience you will also be able to use the different natural lighting to your goal.
I've added some of my work. Try to see if you can identify the different lights affecting the frame. Color, quality, and direction.
Figure out the different ways I've used the light to make the effect serve my purpose.
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I want to recommend reading more In here. there are many interesting articles there. The one about light has helped me a lot in writing this.
I would love to hear what you think of this subject.
Yours, G
