Practical Photography - UK (2020-01)

Learninghow yourcameraseeslight

wi ll takesometime.It’sa skillthat

comeswithpracticeandthere’sno

re al substitutefortakingas many

sh otsas youcan,underas many

di fferentconditionsas possible,

andthen reviewingthoseimages

tounderstandwhat yourcamera

is se eingandrecording.

Onewayto speedup thelearning

pr ocessis to shootsomeblack&

whiteimagesunderdifferentlighting

conditions.Monochrome,strippedof

th e distractionsof colour,emphasises

to ne,contrastandtexture.All of

th oseelementsarehugelyaffected

bylightconditionsandwill be much

easierto ‘read’in black& white.

If yousetyourcamerato output

in monochromeyouwill havethe

advantageof seeinga black& white

di splayin LiveViewto helpyouto

vi sualisethesceneandseein real

ti mehowthelightplaysacrossit

in monochrome.

try shooting

in mono

tips & advice

10 Ways To Improve

PracticalPhotograPhy.com 35

backlight

When the light is behind your subject

• a situation sometimes referred to as
  contre jour – a camera left in any auto
  mode will generally create a silhouette.
  By overexposing the scene you can
  create dreamy portraits with halos of
  light and impactful lens flare.

directional light

When the sun is low it casts long

shadows that pick out detail incredibly

well. You can also create this effect

with a spotlight on a subject and make

creative use of the fall-off from light to

dark. Move your light further away from

the subject to heighten the effect.

artificial light

When we move from natural light into

buildings lit by electric bulbs our eyes

instantly adapt. Cameras, by contrast,

will pick up on the colour cast in artificial

light. Make use of this effect for moody,

filmic shots full of warm orange glows or

cold, unnatural green hues.

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Ey Iryna Hr amavataya

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