PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSED
PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSED
by John Peters A.R.P.S.
LIGHTING
We all know we need sufficient light to make a photograph. Lighting is quite possibly one of the two most important elements of photography. When youve taken thousands of photographs under all conditions, you realise photography boils down to location (or subject) and lighting, or more importantly, quality of light. For me, there are a few major types of light: Reflected light, transmitted light, hard light and soft light. I do a fair bit of landscape work during the golden hour, the hour before or after sunrise or sunset, so maybe that's another type of light or time of light to consider.
Soft light, overcast, cloudy day - Good for portraits
Harder light, good for Landscapes, D.O.F., texture and shadows etc. You are maybe wondering what is the logo 'BORDERPICS'. I used to run a website called BORDERPICS and it had a top ranking for nearly all things photographic. Framing, montage work, weddings, album production,repair, touching up, panoramas, web site creation and hosting: you name it, I tended to offer it. No I wasn't a pro but with the range of services on offer, I probably had more work than most professionals. The secret is to have work that is not seasonal, regular work. Would you believe my second biggest earner was 'repair and restoration work'.
Taken just after sunrise, at Cessford Castle in the Scottish Borders. The light within the Golden Hour can be a mixture of hard and soft light depending on the clouds and because of this, we can often get some good and unique results.
TOP TIP For beginners, let's keep it simple. Hard light is good for producing hard shadows and highlighting texture, soft light does the opposite so hard light might be good for landscapes, soft light might be best suited for portraits. You might consider portraits or street-photography on a typical dull UK day.
TOP TIP Use the likes of The Photographers Ephemeris (used to be free but there is a charge for this app) to check the angle of the sun on any date or time. There are free equivalents to download, this type of app is very useful to a landscape phtographer as are online maps.
TOP TIP Work the scene. By that, I mean if you think you have a useful location / subject with potential, or a subject or location that has not been easy to aquire, take several photos and from different angles too. You can then produce a sequence of shots as shown.
TOP TIP I made a reflector from a bin liner and some tin foil glued on one side. This gave me a portable, very light reflector or I could use it as a false background. The bin liner/reflector is also very handy to lay on the ground if it's damp. Lay down your reflector, then your gadget bag full of gear - eh voila!
A low angle catches the sunlight. I was on my knees for a different viewpoint. Yes you may have to crawl in potentially dangerous circumstances, but for us togs - anything for a photo!