Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

Making your flash less flashy

When shooting with a digital SLR and using a flash that's positioned on top of the camera, try not to point the flash directly into your scene if you can help it. A direct, on-camera flash can be an unflattering source of light. To avoid the direct flash, examine your surroundings to see whether you can bounce the light off of something else. Ifyou're in a roomwith a low-enough ceiling,for example, pointyourflash upward so it directs light onto the surface of the ceiling rather than your subject. The ceiling reflects the light down toward the subject and acts as a larger source than the flash itself, spreading out the light and creating a more realistic quality. (See the section 'Understanding Light

Quality and Intensity' for more information.) You can use the same technique with a nearby wall. Simply rotate the flash head to the side instead of pointing it straight at your subject. The light will spread and bounce off the wall, creating a much more pleasant effect on the subject.

Be aware of a surface's color when you're bouncing your flash off of it. This color will be reflected onto your subject along with the light. For example, a pink wall will cause a person's face to appear more pink. Bouncing light off a surface works best when you use a white wall or ceiling, because you avoid getting a shift in color.

The sun: This is the most common light source. Because light reflects off of certain surfaces, the sun can create multiple sources of light at one time. In the upcoming section, 'Modifying the quality and contrast of light,' I discuss how you can control sunlight (also commonly called natural light) in order to achieve the lighting you prefer at any time of day.

Natural light is a continuous light source, meaning the light is uninterrupted. The sun provides continuous light from just before it rises to just after it sets. A noncontinuous light source is one that provides light for a brief moment — like the flash on a point-and-shoot camera.

Available lights: These lights are part of the scene but aren't typically used to generate light for photography. Examples include lamps, overhead lights, candles, streetlights, and so on. These lights can be used as your main source of light, but in some cases they're dim, causing less-capable cameras to have difficulty exposing them properly.

Hot lights (designed for photography, video, or theater performances):

These are continuous light sources that usually can be spotted (focused more directly on one spot) or flooded (spread more evenly). They also can be turned up or down with a dimmer. These light sources require electricity, and they drain portable power sources quicker than strobes.

Strobes: These are noncontinuous sources of light that produce light that lasts for just an instant at the time of exposure. Each flash or strobe of light is known as a pop. Strobes are professional lights that require

electricity to work. When using strobes on location outdoors, you need a portable power source like a battery pack or a generator.

Battery-powered flashes: These are similar to strobes but are smaller, more compact, and can be used on the camera. They don't provide as much light as strobes, and they have slower recycle times between pops.

Recycle times are determined by how long the flash takes to recharge after a pop. A flash can't create another pop until it's recharged. With full batteries, a common recycle time is about 2 to 3 seconds. As your batteries are drained, the recycle times increase.

A reflector: This is any surface or material that reflects light from another light source.

Window light: This type of light is an indoor source that provides direct or indirect sunlight.

Understanding Light Quality and Intensity

In any light recipe that you cook up for a particular scene, the primary two ingredients are

' Quality: A light's quality is determined by how hard or soft it is when it falls on the elements in the scene.

' Intensity: The intensity of a light source depends on its relationship to the other lights in the scene. If one light is much more powerful than any other light, it stands out in the photograph and is considered high intensity.

In photography, the intensity of light is measured in stops because your exposure is measured in stops and can be determined by using your camera's built-in light meter. (Chapter 3 tells you all about this light meter.)

On a clear day, for example, the sun (like most uninterrupted light sources) provides a direct light that produces hard shadows. A hard shadow is one that's separated from the lit area with a sharp, well-defined line. The line between the shadowed and lit areas is very clear. You can think of this quality of light as hard light; some photographers refer to it as harsh light. The sun also provides an intense light producing dark shadows in areas that aren't receiving the light directly.

On the other hand, on a cloudy day the sun still acts as a light source, but it comes in contact with clouds before reaching the elements in your scene. The molecules in the atmosphere cause the sun's light to bounce around and scatter. Therefore, the light comes in at many different angles rather than

just one, producing soft shadows. The line between the lit area and the shadowed area isn't distinct. Because soft light spreads out more, it fills in the shadows somewhat, causing the light to appear less intense.

Having control of the quality and intensity of light — or at least knowing how to use the available light to your advantage — is the first step in achieving the balance that best reveals your intended message.

Considering hard light Versus soft light

Because hard light provides drastic shadows, it's best known for its ability to reveal texture and make shapes appear more rigid or to have an edge. As you can imagine, this effect is great for some things and not so great for others.

For example, when the sun is low in the sky and is shining directly toward sand dunes, you have a perfect opportunity to show the ripples, sandy textures, and shapes of the dunes in your photograph, as I did in Figure 10-1. However, when you're shooting a portrait of a young woman's face, hard, directional light isn't the best choice because it reveals all the flaws and texture in her skin. Soft light is the better choice for representing beauty because it helps eliminate texture and blemishes by smoothing surfaces and softening shapes. See Figure 10-2 for an example of using soft light in a photograph.

Certain situations commonly call for hard or soft light. Here's a rundown of when you're likely to use each:

Hard light: You use hard light when you want to reveal details, show texture, and create distinct lines. Use it when shooting the following:

• Landscapes that are rigid, textured, or busy (meaning full of elements) or that contain fine details that soft light would minimize

• Fashion or portrait photography that's meant to be edgy (meaning it has a sharp or biting edge and is associated with being bold or controversial)

• Products with texture or fine details