Photography can be fun and artistic, but lighting will make or break a picture.
Photography is the art of capturing light to make images. Light is the key component in any picture, and there are many variations on lighting and light a photograph. Even though there are an infinite number of ways to light a photograph, there are four basic kinds of lighting. Many photographers even blend different kinds of lighting for different effects. Experimentation is the key to finding the best style for a given situation.
Natural Light
This is an example of natural light where the sun has been reflected onto the subject's face.
Natural light is the most common use of lighting in a photograph. The best natural light is typically sunlight, though most photographers like to bring down the harshness by shading or reflecting the light onto the subject. Natural light can also encompass existing light from fixtures in a room which have not been moved to change the light. Natural light can create dramatic effects, but the most important technique when using natural light is to position the subject appropriately.
Flash Photography
Early photographers used a flash simply to get an image on the less sensitive film stock of their day.
Flash photography lighting is the effect of using a flash or additional lights synced with the camera's shutter. This kind of light can add a slight retro feel to photos, but more often is used to "freeze action." The shutter controls the amount of motion blur in a picture, and by adding more light the shutter can move faster, reducing the blur but still exposing the film properly. Most photographers prefer not to use the camera flash because frontal lighting tends to flatten out facial features.
Glamor Light
This commercial shot illustrates how glamor lighting is used in advertising campaigns.
Glamor lighting is commonly used in commercial and editorial photography. It provides even skin tones and gives the subject an excellent eye-light. Eye-lights are important because the eyes are the window to the soul and without an eye-light the eyes can look lifeless. Some glamor lighting requires very expensive lights and equipment; however, amateur photographers can achieve a glamor lighting look by creating an inexpensive ring light -- a ring made up of lights. Take a round piece of plywood, cut it into a large circle, measure the lens of the camera and cut out a circle in the middle slightly larger than the lens. Affix incandescent fixtures to the ring (these are available at any hardware story) and connect them to a power source and bulbs. The camera will not hold the ring light because of the weight, but there are various ways to engineer a stand for a ring light. Experimentation is the best way to find a solution for a particular situation.
Filmic Lighting
Filmic lighting is based off the lighting used in movies. Sometimes the lights will not even be synced with the shutter and will remain constant light sources. Filmic lighting makes use of three primary lights: key, fill and back lights. The key light is the main light for the subject and lights the dominate side of the face. It is usually the most powerful light. The fill light is much weaker and is sometimes only a reflection of the key light. It lights the dark side of the face just a bit so there is still detail. The key-to-fill ratio describes the amount of key light vs. the amount of fill. If there is significantly more key than fill, the photo appears more dramatic. When key and fill lights become closer to having the same amount, the light appears more commercial and less dramatic. The backlight is sometimes called a "kicker" because it helps to "kick" the subject off the background and create foreground-background separation.
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