WIKI-2E

Controlling Natural Light

• Natural light is unpredictable and changes with sun, overcast skies, and cloud cover.
• Full sun:
  • Acts as a hard light source unsuitable for portrait photography.
  • Creates harsh and uneven lighting with strong highlights and shadows.
  • May require fill flash or open shade.
• Techniques to control light include using:
  • Scrims
  • Translucent panels
  • Gobos
  • Reflectors
  • Umbrellas
  • Softboxes
  • Parabolic reflectors
  • Snoots
  • Barn doors
  • Honeycomb grids
• Translucent panels soften hard sunlight.
• Subtractive Lighting:
  • Can be used to block direct sunlight and create directional light.
  • Window light:
    • Best when there is no direct sunlight, resulting in soft lighting.
    • Can be achieved on sides of buildings opposite the sun or with north-facing windows.
    • Can be modified with translucent fabrics or reflector fill.
• Overcast Skies and Heavy Cloud Cover:
  • Create flat lighting.
  • Subtractive methods can be used to create directional patterns.
• Angle of the sun:
  • Low sun angles (early morning and near sunset) enhance textures of landscapes and architecture.
  • Skims across the ground and surfaces.
• Golden Hour:
  • Time around sunrise (up to one hour after) and sunset (thirty minutes before).
  • Sunlight appears softer and warmer.

Mixing Light Sources

• Photographers often mix artificial and natural light, or different artificial lights.
• Keys to solving mixed lighting issues:
  • Overpower ambient light with supplemental lighting.
  • Determine color temperature of each light source and use color correction gels to align them.
• Wedding Photography example:
  • Sanctuaries often use tungsten light (2800K—3400K).
  • Using a daylight-balanced flash (5500K) mixes with the tungsten light.
  • Flash white balance makes wedding party look good while church turns orange.
  • Tungsten white balance makes the church look good while the wedding party looks off.
  • Solution:
    • Add an orange color correcting gel to the flash to match tungsten.
    • Set camera white balance to tungsten (≈3200K).
    • CTO (color to orange) filters fine-tune the tungsten temperature.
• Indoor Photography with Hot Lights example:
  • Hot lights at 3200K mixed with 5500K daylight from a window.
  • Daylight white balance makes hot lighting look orange.
  • 3200K white balance shifts window light color.
  • Solutions:
    • Use blue (CTB - Color to Blue) gels on hot lights and set the camera to 5500K.
    • Cover the window with a CTO gel and set camera to 3200K.
• RAW Capture:
  • Allows color corrections in stages for proper color.
  • Consider the primary light source on the subject when selecting white balance and use RAW corrections on the rest of the scene.
• Color Correction Filters:
  • Still relevant despite DSLRs having built-in white balance controls.
  • FLD or FLW:
    • Correct color cast of fluorescent lights.
    • FLD for daylight balanced tubes
    • FLW for warm light balanced tubes.
    • Reduce overtones.
  • 80A or 80B:
    • Dark blue filters to balance tungsten to daylight.
    • Remove yellowish cast.
    • 80A for 3200K lights.
    • 80B for 3400K photo flood lights.
  • 81A, 81B, and 81C:
    • Warming filters to offset bluish overtones from overcast lighting or flash.
  • CTO (color to orange):
    • Changes daylight to tungsten.
    • Used in mixed lighting, like flash in a tungsten-lit church.
    • Apply to flash and then set camera to ≈3200K.
  • CTB (color to blue):
    • Changes tungsten to daylight.
    • Used with incandescent or hot lights mixed with daylight.
    • Converts warm lights (2700K—3400K) to daylight (5500K).
    • Set camera to daylight (5500K).

Backlighting

• Backlighting occurs when the background is brighter than the subject.
• Recognizing backlighting helps plan exposure.
• Strong backlighting can cause background blow out.
• Correct by adding supplemental light to the subject.
• Solutions:
  • Fill flash: Expose for background and match flash output.
  • Reflector: Add illumination to the subject.
  • Constant lights: Use LED lights to balance exposure.
  • Telephoto lens: Isolate the best part of the background.
  • Reduce background light: Block light with a gobo or scrim.
  • Multiple exposures: Combine separate exposures in image editing software.
  • Allow background blow out: Creative choice if the background is undesirable.
• Backlighting as a Rim Light:
  • Creates a rim light pattern on the subject’s hair.
  • Effective when the subject is isolated against darker backgrounds, facilitated by a telephoto lens.
• Creating Silhouettes:
  • Measure the brightest part of the background for the camera settings.
  • Isolate the subject against the brightest area.

Product Lighting

• Varies based on the item (jewelry, glassware, etc.). Translucent and opaque items require different approaches.
• Reflective Surfaces:
  • Need large light sources.
  • Pay attention to reflections.
  • Softboxes at close range can show only the white without stands or camera.
  • Wedding cake example:
    • Natural light did not show the silver finish.
    • Bounce flash reflected light, revealing the metallic finish.
  • Softboxes, reflectors, and light tents are helpful.
  • Reflectors (white, gray, black foam core) bounce reflections.
  • Black cards in light tents create black reflections to define the object.
• Transparent Products:
  • Benefit from large light sources and backlighting.
  • Light the background to show through the object.
  • Glassware example:
    • Natural window light created specular highlights and window reflections.
    • Large softbox with a strobe gave larger, diffused highlights.
    • Direct flash causes glare.
• Translucent Products:
  • Benefit from large light sources and reflectors.
  • Backlighting defines translucency.
  • Wine bottle example: Backlighting shows off translucence.
• Opaque Objects:
  • Define shape, texture, details, and color.
  • Soft lighting is often used to avoid unwanted shadows.
  • Softbox or scrim provides soft, even light.
  • Microscope example:
    • Softbox skims light across the front, providing depth.
    • White foam core reflector bounces back light for even lighting