Understanding Lighting
Understanding the importance of correct lighting for your camera can make all the difference when it comes to taking the perfect picture with the perfect camera. Before you buy a used camera you should know as much as you can about how a camera operates and the elements that go into taking great pictures with any type of a camera.
A picture is really just a recording of the light conditions that are taken at a certain time in space. These color patterns and shapes are recognized in a picture simply because they represent those things that we see every day. We often take light for granted but a photographer, as well as a painter, needs to stay tuned in to the subtleness of light so that they can make pictures that are effective.
White light is made up of all the colors that are found in the color spectrum. A prism can easily demonstrate this since it lets the light through it and then refracts the light so that all the colors of the rainbow are present. We are able to see rainbows when the drops of water act as prisms and break up the light from the sun, thereby splitting the light into colors.
All objects have colors that are different simply because they reflect some colors while they absorb others. Black will absorb all other colors. This means that black is the "absence" of color.
Although all light looks the same to us there are in fact different sources of light that emphasize particular parts of the color spectrum. From 10 am to 2 pm the bright sunlight will have a tinge that is blue. In the morning and late afternoon the sunlight will appear to be red since it is filtered through the atmosphere of the earth.
Certain color characteristics can also be found in artificial light. Light that is incandescent will bring out reddish colors while at the same time florescent light will appear to be a green/blue.
Photographers can use these different light characteristics to their advantage when they are taking pictures. The camera can be compensated for different light sources as well as for special characteristics when the light is used for an effect that is artistic.
You can adjust your digital camera for balancing color. Your camera may have several different options such as manual, automatic, daylight, flash, or incandescent. These settings can then be used to compensate for sources of light so that the color white is really white. This way the colors can be accurately reproduced.
Sometimes you might want to produce a special effect by changing the white setting to another color. You will be able to preview how it will look by using the LCD monitor.
In photography the direction from where the light source is coming from is very important. The light can come from behind, below, the side, or from above the subject. Each angle will produce an effect that is different. Light from all sides is a good place to start when you are photographing people. You can find this diffuse side light during the early morning hours or in the late afternoon. You can also reproduce this type of lighting in a studio setting by using an umbrella reflector.
You can create all kinds of special effects when you light the subject in a variety of ways. You can achieve a halo effect with backlighting. Overhead lighting will give you good contrasts between shadow and light.
The strength of the light source is another way to achieve special effects. A direct light source will create a strong shadow while a light that is more diffuse will create a soft atmosphere by the reduction of contrast between one object and another.
Digital photography allows you to experiment as much as you like without high processing costs or the use of lots of film. You can get many different lighting ideas by looking through photography books and by attempting different lighting conditions.
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