Light and Photography

Light and Photography Steve pERRY Photo

” Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman

This is an example of using speedlights to light a portrait. I liked the catch lights in the eyes and I like the mood the lighting had. Is it perfect, well absolutely not. But it shows the need to think and experiment with lighting. It is all about positioning the light, shaping the light, and manipulating the light. This applies to both natural light photography and photography using off camera flash. When you first get started with speedlights get started using one off camera with some type of modifier. Do some research on using one light. There are tons of articles on lighting on line.

Here is an example of a portrait just done with natural window light.

Natural light only. Light through a living room window. The light created a reflective and dark mood. Experimenting with natural light can be as much fun as using speedlights. Try using just a reflector to get just the light that you want. I did not use a deflector here because I wanted the light to be harsh to convey the mood.

The more you get into photography the more you will begin to realize how important light is in the whole photographic process.

Go and look for light. These are early morning light photos from my garden. And of course this is natural light.

To get started all you need is a couple of speedlights. Practice and keep note of the effects you get. This was three speedlights. A main, a fill and background light.

Once again looking for beautiful window light in the flour mill at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario. The light here I felt really lent itself to a black and white treatment. TIP: Remember to shoot RAW. It will give you the most options in post-processing.

Apple shot on white plexiglass using a three speedlight setup.

Light is the essence of photography. Master the use of light and you will master the art of photography. -Steve Perry

Another example of early morning light.

I knew when I was making this photo that I wanted to convert to black and white and get the widest possible range of tones that I could get. In the end I was happy how it turned out. The range of tones certainly could be greater but I felt this made a nice light study.

So get out there and experiment with natural light and flash. Look to shape the light. Remember that photography is light.

Steve Perry

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Steve Perry

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Light and Photography Steve pERRY Photo

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