Lighting for Digital Photography: The Five Characteristics of Light

Oct 25, 2012

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Photography Begins with Looking at Light
Poring over the Picture
Poring over the Picture
Start Your Obsession with Light
Dicch-That's a Curious Word
Direction
Intensity
Color
Contrast
Hardness
Lighting Lessons are Everywhere
Chapter 1 Assignments

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Lighting for Digital Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots (Using Flash and Natural Light for Portrait, Still Life, Action, and Product Photography)

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Start Your Obsession with Light

The best photographers in any genre are the ones who are obsessed with light. I hope that you will join their ranks—both in terms of skill and in terms of how you look at light. To start you down the path, I encourage you to study the light around you throughout each day.

Here is a sample of observations about light I’ve made in a single day:

In the morning, as I’m waking up, I study the color of a patch of golden sunlight on the wall of my bedroom.
At breakfast, I examine the shape of the shadows around my coffee cup and solve the riddle, “Why are there three shadows?”
At noon, I notice how sharp and small the shadows of pedestrians on the sidewalk have become since the sun is now straight overhead.
On my way home, I enjoy the glare of sunlight as it skips off the asphalt and onto the metal siding of a warehouse.
A half-hour after sunset, I call my wife, Amy, and our boys outside to see how the western clouds have turned salmon-orange and how the sky transitions from indigo high above down to turquoise at the horizon.

Yes, it’s obvious that I’m obsessed with light. I hope that you’ll start your own obsession today!

Say “Click!” and Make Mental Photos

I make mental photographs all the time. I’m walking down the sidewalk and see a beautiful patch of sunlight in a park. “Click.” At a restaurant, I notice that the candlelight flies through a water bottle and creates an interesting pattern on the table. “Click.” At a stoplight, I glance over and see beautiful light bouncing off a silver van and onto the face of another driver. “Click.”

Don’t just look for photo opportunities when you have a camera in your hands. Look for them all the time.

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