My freshman year in high
school, I chose photography as my elective
because I thought I had no artistic talent and
it would fulfill my art requirement. I
never expected to get hooked, but I did. I
started mowing lawns and shoveling snow to
afford a really good camera. Reading
everything I could get my hands on, I became
obsessed and later realized I was artistic.
Now, I work as a graphic artist and am still
obsessed with pictures. Each month, I get
to share a bit of my obsession with you here in
the Photo Stop.
On my first day of that
freshman class, my teacher defined photography
as "the recording of light rays." I barely
knew what a light ray was, but the words stuck
with me. I soon learned that photography
is a war and light is both weapon and enemy.
You battle against it and you battle with it.
The more you know and understand light, the
better you photograph.
Since June marks the start
of summer and outdoor activities for many, I
want to start with sunlight. Natural
sunlight is wonderful for photography, but you
need to understand just a few things to really
work the sun.
Overhead
Sunlight
Photo taken in
direct sunlight--notice the harsh
shadows on his face.
High noon is not
the best time of day to shoot photos.
The sun is extremely strong. It generates a hard light with deep crisp shadows. The direction of the light will place those shadows in unattractive positions underneath the subject's eyes and nose.
One solution is to move the subject into the shade where he will be lit by skylight rather than sunlight. Skylight comes from a large source and is therefore diffuse. Diffuse light does not cast strong shadows. Skylight is also rather blue and, if you are using color slide film, you might have to place a warming filter (e.g., 81D) over the lens to get natural skin tone.
You could also
choose a reflector. Have your
subject hold a piece of white poster
board in his lap and the board will
reflect the light back up filling the
face and reducing the shadows.
Sunrise/Sunset
Photo taken at
sunset--notice that there are none of
the shadows of the first photo.
This is the time of day that you should go out photographing in.
Portraits can glow with natural light
during this time. For the easiest
photos, put the light behind you so it
fills your subject's face. But
then, practice moving your subject
around. Try the light behind them
with a fill flash, try it to the side
and play with the slight shadows it
causes.
Many majestic landscapes were taken during this time of day, and you can easily see why. When waiting till dawn/dusk, you will get warm tones of red or yellow, which give your scene high saturation and a dramatic quality that you don’t get during noon. The shadows are also very low, so your subject’s texture can easily be defined. Yes, it may be hard to wait until sunset, though it will be well worth it!
What
happens if you do end up with a photo
that you need without good lighting?
Follow me to the next page where we will
learn to fix lighting issues.
