RAY
BILCLIFF
T
HEFUNDAMENTA L
buildingblockof every
photographevertakenis
li ght.Withoutlightthereis
nophotography,so learning
aboutlightis keybefore
ta cklinganyotheraspectof theart
fo rm.As a photographeryoushouldbe
constantlyalertto themood,effectand
qualityof thelight.Do thiswhetheror not
you havea camerawithyou;lookatevery
si tuationin termsof thelight.Studythe
way it fallsandplayson objects,people
and scenes.Andoncethisviewof the
worldhasbecomesecondnatureit’stime
tounderstandthewayyourcamerasees,
in terpretsanduseslight.
Seeingthingsdifferently
Thanksto theincrediblepowerof the
humanbody,youreyes– workingin
ta ndemwithyourbrain– canhandle
a massiverangeof tones
withina sceneto deliver
a vi ewthatshowsdetailin
both thedeepestshadow
areasand brightest
highlights.Yourcameraisn’t
quiteas smarthowever,andwill
re actto lightin a morebinaryway.
Ina scenewithhighcontrasttherewill
al waysbe a compromiseto makebetween
lo singshadowdetailor blowingthe
hi ghlights.But whilethismayseemlike
a flaw,thewaythatyourcamerareacts
todifferentlightingconditionsactually
underpinsmuchof thecreativeaspect
ofphotography.Understandingand
predictingthewayyourcamerawill
in terpretthelightin a sceneis a vitalpart
ofyourphotographicstudyandpractice.
Yourcameradoesn’tseetheworldin
th e samewaythatyoureyesdo, butby
understandingthewayit will interpret
di fferentlightingconditions,youcanmake
cr eativeuseof its shortcomings.Hereare
so meof thecommontypesof lightyou’ll
d h k b f i
HOW TYPES OF
LI GHTAFFECT
YOUR CAMERA
LEARN TO SEE
LIGHT LIKE A
CAMERA DOES
34 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
FL AT LIGHT
Whentheskyis overcastit actsas a
gi antsoftbox,creatinga scenethat’s
ve rylowin contrast.Yourcamera
wi ll neverstruggleto givea good
ex posurein theseconditions,butit
won’t delivermuchimpact.Thisis
id eallightforsoft,flatteringportraits.
HIGHCONTRAST
A br ightsunnydaywill rendera scene
wi thdeepblackshadowsandbright
whitehighlights.If youexposeforthe
highlightsyoushouldbe ableto recover
shadowdetailfromRAWfilesin theedit,
but youcanalsousethisverybinary
ef fectto createscenesfullof drama.
1
TIP
SHOOTAT
GOLDENHOUR
Toseethemostdramatic
ef fectof lightingconditionson
a landscapescene,shoot
ju st aftersunrise
orjustbefore
sunset.
RightTa keadvantageof nature’ssoftbox
tobathelandscapeshotsin goldenlight.
MILLAF VAGENGEIM
