How To Take Pictures With Different Lighting
Lighting is as important to your image as the composition, and can add mood, create depth, and emphasize form. Using available light, such as sunlight, is often the easiest way to take a photograph. The light is believable and natural.
The time of day influences the angle of the light. In the morning and just before sunset, the sun is low on the horizon, and casts a beautiful sidelight on your subject or scene. At "high noon," the sun is well overhead; the shadows it casts are short, but intense. At 3:00 in the afternoon, the light is much more angled and casts very different shadows (go look for yourself).
The color of light can also be affected by the time of day, and even the season. During most of the day, when the sun is high in the sky, the light is neutral. When the sun is low on the horizon, especially during the summer months, it picks up a warm yellow tone. This can be dramatic and beautiful for your pictures. Weather, too, affects light. Whereas a clear day proffers brilliant, intense light, an overcast day tenders soft, diffused light. In some situations, this can be pleasing; other times, it takes away your shadow detail and makes your images look flat.
Tips
Backlighting
The general rule to using sunlight as a light source is to try to position your body so that the sun is behind you (the photographer), or over your shoulder. That way, the light falls on the front of your subject. Of course, you can't always depend on the light being exactly where you need it. Many times, it comes from behind your subject, casting it in shadow. This is called backlighting.
When an exposure meter reads a scene, it expects to find bright areas and shadow areas. The meter assumes that if all these areas were totaled up, the average light would be a middle gray. So when a meter detects a bright area behind your subject, it shuts down your aperture to compensate in an attempt to render an average exposure. Unfortunately, that leaves your subject in the dark.
What's a meter photographer to do?
Well, if your camera has an exposure override, allowing you to open up the aperture or slow down the shutter, you can easily correct for this. Give your subject a few more stops of light, and your image will be properly exposed. Many consumer cameras now come with a backlight feature in their menu. As an alternative, many cameras enable you to spot read and lock in an exposure. Spot reading allows you to gather a reading in a smaller area; you could, for example, measure only the shadow area, and then lock in the exposure settings. The camera then automatically opens the aperture and ignores the backlighting.
Night Shooting
When photographing at night, try using various shutter speeds. You can get a nice effect from the streaks of lights from car taillights if you use slower shutter speeds. If you are trying to photograph fireworks, try varying your shutter speed to capture different types of bursts. Some cameras might even enable you to hold the shutter open as long as you like; this is called a bulb setting. With the shutter left open, you can record as many firework explosions on one frame as you want. Of course, you can always manipulate your images by using image-editing software to make your own fireworks!
Flash
Gone are the days of flashbulbs and flashcubes. All consumer-level cameras, digital and film based alike, come with built-in flash. These built-in flashes generally provide enough light to take a picture indoors, provided that the subject is within 10-12 feet of the camera. Built-in flashes will allow you to take photos in low-light situations, but will not render a natural lighting effect (the flash will usually look a bit harsh).
Don't expect that tiny little flash to light up the entire room; it is just not strong enough. In the same regard, don't expect a flash to even reach a subject that is more than 20 feet away from the camera. (For example it's always funny when you watch a televised sports event and see flashes going off in the stands - those flashes will never reach the field!)
To use your flash effectively, do the following:
1. Keep your subject 10-15 feet from the camera.
2. Light from a flash does not spread well. This is called fall off. Keep your subjects in an area no wider than 6-8 feet.
3. Keep your flash higher than your lens. Don't have it lighting from an angle lower than the lens, or pointing up.
4. Avoid cameras with tiny flashes or flashes mounted very close to the lens.
