Photography | Artificial Lighting In Photography

Photography is art. Individuals will spend many hours in museums and art galleries analysing the various photographs on display for a deeper meaning and expression. Like painting arts, it has a message; sometimes it will evoke happiness, sadness, or a carefree attitude. There are many skills and techniques a novice photographer can also learn to evoke the same emotions they desire for their photographs. One such technique is making use of artificial lighting. Artificial lighting is not always as easy and fun as using the natural light of the sun, but you can use it to create some wonderful photographs once you have mastered the skill and know how.

Understanding Temperature Scale In Photography

Indoor lighting is often using the fluorescent or the tungsten bulbs. Tungsten bulbs are used by professional photographers as hot lights, due to the high temperature they can produce. In photography it is essential to understand the temperature scale in relation to the colours they will produce. A hot light will produce and create more red and reduce the blue. Fire light and candle light though not artificial, can also be used indoors to create depth and shadows.

Understanding Exposure And Angle In Artificial Lighting

When using indoor lights, especially artificial light, you will need to understand exposure. When you have less light, it will take longer to expose the film to capture or take a photograph. Part of exposure is understanding the angle. Let us use an example of taking pictures in a museum. For instance, you are in a museum with the object minerals kept behind a glass cabinet. Some make think that nothing would come from it as the glass will create reflection. This is not true. When you are in a dim room where you still have direct light on the object you will not want to use the flash. The glass will force the flash to bounce the light back at the picture. Try to get as close to the glass as possible. The next consideration is the angle. Taking the picture head on or directly on the object will bounce the light and shadows about. You will need the skill to angle the camera to the side or up from the ground to shoot the photograph. If you do not have the glass in the way, the angle you shoot will still be very important, especially when taking portraits. Shooting any subject directly or head on is likely to create shadows on the print.

Searching For The Best Contours And Planes

When shooting faces or other objects, you normally want a three dimensional contrast. You will need to search for the best contours and planes of the subject, especially in portrait photography. The contours and planes will help you decide the angle you will shoot the subject from. The shadows will often give the three-dimensional contrast if you find the right planes and angle to shoot from.

Movable Artificial Lighting

Artificial lighting needs to be moveable or mobile. Just turning on your home lights will never give you the desired effect. Instead it can a wash out for the subject if the light is placed at the wrong angle, or may create too much shadow in one area. You need to have lightings set up on mobile tripods to change the angle to suit your needs for the subject.

Learning and following lighting tips will increase your photography skills. Novice photographers are strongly encouraged to take a class on lighting and read more books on the subject. This will help you to learn and increase your knowledge in using proper lighting techniques. The reason for taking classes is to provide hands on and feedback. You may be happy with the shot but feedback or suggestions can help you improve and make the shot better in the future. Artificial lighting has its own advantages over outdoor or natural lighting. It is a matter of preference of the photographer or the desire of a client or subject for that matter. You seldom require artificial lighting when shooting outdoor for the most part; you usually depend on your camera flash to help you with the picture quality. When you need to choose your lighting, remember to look for the best lighting situation at the moment to enhance your subject and make your picture as natural as possible.

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