Lighting for Digital Photography

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Saturday, October 4th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Whether you're doing traditional or digital photography, lighting is of top importance.The amount of light in a photograph will greatly affect both the looks and the emotional feel of the picture. Bright lighting tends to lend a happier feel to your pictures, while shadows promote more of an air of mystery to the subject.

Traditional photography captured the light by impressions on chemicals, while digital photography uses pixels to capture light.The best light is natural, but sometimes there's not enough available for a good picture.Sometimes there isn't enough available light, and you need to use artificial lighting.

How Much Light Is There?

While you can see for yourself to some extent how much light is available, to get precise measurements you need a light meter.A light meter doesn't do the same job a flash does.A light meter will tell you how much light is reflected, but does not actually provide any light.

A handheld light meter will measure the light and was once a standard part of any serious photographer’s equipment.Since most digital cameras now have built-in light meters, you can tell how bright the picture will be just by looking through the eyepiece.The built-in light meter of today's cameras will set off the automatic flash when it's too dark for a good photograph.

Histograms Instead of Light Meters

Also, with digital cameras, it’s not so important to have a light meter because most have a histogram.In similar fashion, a histogram shows how light or dark a picture is.

If you don’t have a histogram on your camera, or just don’t want to fuss with it, the simplest method is to take a picture and review it to see how it looks, and if it’s too dark or light, adjust by adding more light or lowering the amount of light.

For the perfect picture, practice lots, have patience, and you'll find the best lighting.

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