Lessons 17–18: Michael Melford—Color and Light

Michael Melford—Color and Light

Lessons 17–18

(

very great photograph encompasses three elements: subject or

content, composition, and light. You don’t need any particularly

complex gear to make a great photograph, and you don’t need

anything more than natural light, but it’s helpful to understand the different

kinds of light photographers look for and the effects light can lend to your

images. In these lessons, we’ll look at four kinds of light: diffuse light, side

light, backlight, and magic light. We’ll see which type of light is best for

VKRRWLQJYDULRXVVXEMHFWVDQGZH¶OOOHDUQVRPHVSHFL¿FWLSVIRUZRUNLQJLQD

range of lighting situations.

Diffuse Light

Beautiful, soft diffuse light is found on rainy, overcast days or foggy days.

This is also the type of light you sometimes see after a storm has cleared and

DPLVWIRUPV$QG\RXFDQ¿QGGLIIXVHOLJKWLQWKHHDUO\PRUQLQJ²EHIRUHWKH

sun comes up—or in the evening—just before it gets dark. At dusk, the sky

lends an intense blue color to everything in the environment.

'LIIXVHOLJKWLVWKHEHVWIRUSKRWRJUDSKLQJÀRZHUVDQGIROLDJHLQIDFWLI

you photograph in a forest on a sunny day, you will not get good results.

On sunny days, our eyes can see the difference between shadowy areas and

bright areas, but the camera cannot. The result is overexposed images. If

\RX¶UHVKRRWLQJÀRZHUVRQDVXQQ\GD\SRVLWLRQ\RXUVHOILQIURQWRIWKHVXQ

to create a shadow and your own diffuse light.

On days when you have diffuse light, try putting your camera on a tripod.

If it’s windy, experiment with various slow shutter speeds to blur certain

elements in your image and show motion. This is a good trick to try when

photographing animals, too.

Side Light

Side light is found on sunny days—generally early in the morning or late in

the afternoon—when the sun is at a right angle to you, rather than directly