essential skills: digital photography in available light
Introduction
Light is the essence of photography. Without light there is no photography. Light is the photographer’s
medium. The word photography is derived from the ancient Greek words, ‘photos’ and ‘graph’,
meaning ‘light writing’. To understand light the photographer must be fully conversant with its
qualities and behaviour. In mastering the medium the photographer learns to take control over
the creation of the fi nal image. This takes knowledge, skill and craftsmanship. It can at fi rst seem
complex and sometimes confusing. However, with increased awareness and practical experience
light becomes an invaluable tool to communication.
Seeing light
In order to manage a light source, we must fi rst be aware of its presence. Often our preoccupation
with content and framing can make us oblivious to the light falling on the subject and background.
We naturally take light for granted. This can sometimes cause us to simply forget to ‘see’ the light.
When light falls on a subject it creates a range of tones we can group into three main categories:
highlights, midtones and shadows.
Each of these can be described by their level of illumination (how bright, how dark) and their
distribution within the frame. These are in turn dictated by the relative position of subject, light
source and camera.
ACTIVITY 1
Describe the above images in terms of highlights, midtones and shadows.
Draw diagrams to indicate the relative position of subject, light source and camera.Image 1 Image 2