Tag: lighting situation

It’s All About the Light. . .

by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction, light

copyright Karen Ulvestad

Photography is possible because of Light. Without light, the image is black. With too much light, the photo is white.

How do we control this light? It is controlled through exposure.

Exposure = ISO + Aperture + Shutter Speed

It is the photographer along with the camera settings that creates the photograph. Every photograph is a reflection of the photographer’s intent for the image.

The use of light affects the subject, story, and quality of the photograph. It is the choices of the photographer!

Happy Shooting. . .Karen

Shadows, Highlights & Mid-tones

by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction

copyright Karen Ulvestad

So, I’ve been missing in action the past few months, and neglected my blog!

I’m back. . .at least until my next adventure that leads me away from the computer screen and the Internet.

I’ve been pursuing the Light. Without light, there cannot be a photograph. Light is a challenging subject, because our eyes see it one way, and our camera sees it in a different way. Our eyes can see the details in the brights (highlights) and darks (shadows) on the brightest sunny day. Our camera cannot.

copyright Karen Ulvestad

Technically, this means the difference between shadow and highlight is greater than 2-stops of light. So, what does a photographer do?

One to compensate for this difference in lighting is to use the HDR setting in the camera, or a software program on the computer. The HDR setting on the camera will take 3 exposures (1 for the shadows, 1 for the highlights, and one for the mid-tones), and combine the 3 into one photograph. Computer programs work with highlight, shadow, and mid-tone settings within the photograph to accomplish a similar effect.

Life is Good!

Karen

copyright Karen Ulvestad

 

Quality of Light – Part 2

by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction, Tips
copyright Karen Ulvestad
These orchids were photographed inside, under incandescent light. The blue background is the window. The camera was set on Incandescent, therefore the daylight turned blue (turning the window blue).

Indoor and outdoor light have different temperatures.  Our eyes automatically adjust to the difference in color, but our camera needs to be adjusted.  The different types of light include Daylight, Incandescent or Tungsten and Florescent.  With film, the type of film had to be changed between indoor and outdoor shooting.  The emulsion dictated how the camera saw the whites in the scene.

With digital cameras, we control how our cameras view light through the White Balance (WB) setting.  Most cameras have a quick button to set the WB, though it is located in different places (per the camera manufacturer).  White balance is how your camera “sees” the tone white.

copyright Karen Ulvestad
The WB setting for this photograph was shade. This setting cuts out the cyan overcast that happens, when the WB is at daylight in this situation.

The WB can be used to correct the lighting situation, or as a creative tool.  The color of outdoor light changes through-out the day, and whether it is shady or over-cast.  Indoor light is more consistent, but there are at least three types of Florescent lights in use.  Some cameras reflect this with three different Florescent WB settings.

When using a flash indoors, the camera’s WB should be set on Daylight.  The flash is the “temperature” of a sunny day.

More Later. . .Karen

copyright Karen Ulvestad
This is an outdoor photograph. It was a sunny day. This was shot with the WB set on Cloudy. The cloudy setting warms up the photo, and the yellows are more vivid.