8 Better Available Light Digital Photography
summer day in Denver begins with blue sky, warm to hot tem-
peratures shifting to a stormy afternoon. Weather in the form of
dark, ominous clouds often rolls in from the Rocky Mountains
west of the city. In less than 30 minutes, a nice day can become
a dark, stormy one, followed by clearing, a beautiful sunset, and
a pleasant evening. Nevertheless, you don’t want to be exposed
during a lightning storm. According to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), lightning kills 90 people
every year in the United States.Light is light
It doesn’t matter what person, place, or thing you are
photographing—the ultimate subject of any photograph is
light. Light, whether it occurs naturally or artifi cially, has
three basic characteristics: quality, quantity, and color. The
quality of the light on a subject ultimately determines the
effectiveness of your photograph. That’s why we will spend
lots of time taking you behind specifi c photo shoots, describ-
ing the conditions under which the images were made. These
descriptions of the aesthetic decisions that were made are
designed to help you literally “see the light” so that you can
benefi t from our experience, but the best way to learn how
to learn to see light is to shoot pictures and examine the
success and failure of each photograph vis-à-vis the way you
handled light in the fi nal image.
If light is the main ingredient in a photograph, then the quality
of the light becomes the driving force in producing successfulLight on overcast or hazy-schmazy
days is fl at and cool. This photo-
graph made from the balustrade
of Fuerte San Diego in Acapulco
features the kinds of sights the
Convention and Visitors Bureau
doesn’t use on their travel bro-
chures, but shows much of the life
and vitality of the city. Even under
dull, boring light, the bright colors
of this wonderfully vibrant city
seem alive. Image was captured
with a Canon EOS-1D Mark II
with an exposure of 1/125 at
f/7.1 and ISO 200. © 2005 Joe
Farace.