Digital PhotographyMonday, Oct. 25

Unity and DivisionLight – time of day

Light has a variety of characteristics or personalities.

Depending on time of day, direction, and intensity, the quality and color of light can change dramatically. Sometimes, the color can influence the camera in the wrong way and cause an image to look tinted and unattractive.

Most people think that to make great photos, the weather needs to be beautiful and sunny. This is a myth. You can often create great images in poor or marginal weather. The key is to have great flexibility. If, for example, you go out photographing a particular subject that only looks good in a certain light, and you don’t find that light, you may need to shift gears and photograph an entirely different subject.

Natural light (light that is not from flash) can change from a cool blue to a warm pink in a matter of seconds. In portraits, light that provides a soft, even glow can hide wrinkles, while light that’s dramatic and directional (coming in from the side for example) can intensify a subject’s weathered features.

There are three characteristics of light that are important to photography:

1. Light Intensity

2. Light Direction

3. Light Color

Light intensity

Intensity is simply how much light is hitting the subject. There is bright light and what I call flat light which are gray overcast days. Photographers manipulate the amount of light hitting the by adjusting aperture, shutter speed or through filters or perhaps even using a flash unit or other artificial light source. Bright light can have very high contrast i.e. bright areas and dark shadows. Flat light which is typified by dark cloudy days tends to show very little contrast. The intensity of light call really set the mood of a photo.

Light Direction – The direction in where the light is coming into the camera.

Side light - Light coming from the sides is useful for showing textures and detail. Front light – the light source is behind you and hits the front of your subject. By far the most challenging light is front light where the light is coming straight toward the camera. The results of successful use of front light however can be very rewarding.

Backlight – The sun is in front of you and hits your face and the back of your subject.

Overhead light – Light that comes directly from above, when the sun is high in the sky. This kind of light is usually too bright and harsh.

Side lighting

Front lighting

Back lighting

Overhead lighting

Finally, light has different colors and digital photographers will often refer to color temperature. Oranges and reds which are commonly found during sunset or sunrise are considered "warm" light. Blues which are evident in photos with snow is considered cold.

Natural light is white, while artificial light is often shades of yellow, orange or green.

Our eyes naturally adjust to colored or tinted light sources to make them appear white and so will your digital camera but only within certain limits

If you want warm-colored pictures work earlier or later in the day when natural light tends to be more orange.

The Golden Hour refers to the hour before sunset and after sunrise, the first and last hour of sunlight in the day. The Golden Hour is sometimes called the Magic Hour. And, no wonder. This time of day is simply magical. It is almost universally agreed among photographers that these are the very best hours of the day to take photos because of the special character and quality of light.

For early evening shots, you will need longer shutter times i.e. longer exposure to make up for the low light. This makes it likely your photographs could be blurry due to camera shake, so lean your camera on something - anything steady - to keep still during exposure.

The main thing to keep in mind with natural, or “available” light is that it can change fast! It also pays off to stick around, when the light is not good, and wait for it to improve. In addition, be at the scene and ready to go BEFORE good light arrives.

Preset White Balance SettingsHere are some of the basic White Balance settings you’ll find on cameras: Auto – this is where the camera makes a best guess on a shot by shot basis. You’ll find it works in many situations but it’s worth venturing out of it for trickier lighting.Tungsten – this mode is usually symbolized with a little bulb and is for shooting indoors, especially under tungsten (incandescent) lighting (such as bulb lighting). It generally cools down the colors in photos.Fluorescent – this compensates for the ‘cool’ light of fluorescent light and will warm up your shots.Daylight/Sunny – not all cameras have this setting because it sets things as fairly ‘normal’ white balance settings.Cloudy – this setting generally warms things up a touch more than ‘daylight’ mode.Flash – the flash of a camera can be quite a cool light so in Flash WB mode you’ll find it warms up your shots a touch.Shade – the light in shade is generally cooler (bluer) than shooting in direct sunlight so this mode will warm things up a little.

Find a location to take a picture near your house.

1. Take 1 picture in Early morning (warm colors, dramatic shadows)

2. Take 1 picture in midday (bold colors, harsh light, lack of shadows)

3. Take 1 picture in late afternoon or Early evening (Warm colors, dramatic shadows)

When Centered is Good

The rule of thirds is good advice, most of the time. If you always keep the subject out of the center, you limit your options for composition. If you make a deliberate decision to either keep the subject in the center or not then you are more likely to find a good place for the subject in your composition.

Create a bold Center

Some subjects have a strong center with radiating lines that all point to the center. You can use that center in a composition by putting it right in the center of your picture, and then getting close. You need to get in close enough so that all details that do not relate to the center and its supporting lines are kept out of the photograph.

Balance Night and Day

There is a point in the sunset where the sun is right at the horizon. This is truly a balance point between night and day. You can put the horizon and the sun right in the middle of the picture if the top and bottom have detail to support the composition, such as water scene. Otherwise, put the sun in the middle from left to right, but at the bottom of the photo so that the sky is emphasized.

Look for Patterns

Patterns that work from the center can be fascinating for a composition. Sometimes the subject has naturally concentric patterns, such as a snail’s shell, but other times those forms come from the way you line up objects in a scene. These can all make fascinating photographs.

Take several pictures of centering your subject using 1 technique.

Turn in your best 1 picture.

Where the Heads belong

People take pictures of people such as friends, family, and people in groups. People are shot as portraits to remember someone, as candid shots from events, as parts of a larger scene, and in many other types of images. Sometimes these are single-person shots, while others are shots of families or teams. People subjects are one of the most common reasons for taking a picture. You can get better people pictures by paying attention to where you put their heads.

Keep Headroom Tight

You will often see people pictures with the heads centered in the photo and a big space over their heads – too much headroom. Unless there is a good reason for putting space over a head (such as a frame) keep the space tight and to a minimum, but without touching the head to the top of the image area.

Crop a Head to show a Face

You may notice that a dramatic effect often used by television news is to crop into the head of someone being interviewed so that you cannot see the top of their head. This forces the viewer to look at the person’s face, their expression, and their eyes, rather than just seeing an outline of the head.

Keep the Back row of Heads Close to the Top

People often parents, rush out to find and photograph their kids after an event, and often want to include a whole group of people. But then they put a lot of headroom above the top of the back row, shoving the whole team into the bottom of the photo. A better approach is to tilt the camera down so that the back row of heads is close to the top of the picture.

Center a Close Portrait Left and Right

When you get in close to a subject, you will often find that it looks best when balanced left and right. You do want to keep headroom tight at the top, regardless of whether the subject is a person, a cat, or even a flower. By balancing the photo left and right, you make sure the viewer really looks at the subject rather than the composition.

Take several pictures with people or animals.

Turn in 1 picture with a tight headroom with 1 person

Turn in 1 picture with a cropped head to show a face

Turn in 1 picture with a Centered close portrait left and right.