QuickStart Guide to Documenting Your Family: Task 4 - Find The Light
Even if your motive is perfect you cannot make a good photograph without an appropriate light. Light is the essence of photography and when you learn to understand and capture the light the way you want you became a photographer. A real one! This is a complex topic and we can study it in details later if you wish.
For the moment I will give you simple tips how to find the light and in what situation to use it given you are taking pictures with a phone or camera in an automatic mode.
Outdoors. Usually you have no problems to find the light outdoors unless it is twilight or night. The very bright days are perfect for quick movement pictures (jumping, running etc.) Strong sunlight is not good for portraits as it makes strong dark shadows. Cloudy days are better for portraits and for pictures when you child is not moving too fast.
Indoors. Finding the light indoors is very important for a good photograph and usually there are only few places, where the light is strong enough. The best light is always near the windows. You should be either near the window or between your model and the window. If there is no natural light you can use a lamp, but the light should come from the side, not from above. If you are taking pictures at home it is almost always a good idea to turn off the celling light.
For the moment I will give you simple tips how to find the light and in what situation to use it given you are taking pictures with a phone or camera in an automatic mode.
Outdoors. Usually you have no problems to find the light outdoors unless it is twilight or night. The very bright days are perfect for quick movement pictures (jumping, running etc.) Strong sunlight is not good for portraits as it makes strong dark shadows. Cloudy days are better for portraits and for pictures when you child is not moving too fast.
Indoors. Finding the light indoors is very important for a good photograph and usually there are only few places, where the light is strong enough. The best light is always near the windows. You should be either near the window or between your model and the window. If there is no natural light you can use a lamp, but the light should come from the side, not from above. If you are taking pictures at home it is almost always a good idea to turn off the celling light.
I hope this was helpful! The next part is coming soon!
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based in Geneva, working in Switzerland
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