Playing with Light.

Today I attended a class soley devoted to effectively utilizing light in photography. It definitely helped put things in perspective for me, and will better inform my shots in the future (which means producing far prettier photographs!).

So, as part of my self-imposed homework assignment, I'm going to share some important information about how light influences photography. The three main lighting directions for photographers include:

1. Front, which is used for optimal color and overall brightness.
2. Side, which is used to emphasize depth and texture of the subject.
3. Back, which emphasizes shape. The extreme form of this lighting is a silhouette.

Of course I learned way more than that (including lighting quality and color temperature as well as working with artificial light) but the three points listed above were the main learnings that really struck me. That, and I currently lack the auxillary flash I really want, so I can't practice on anything but natural light for the time being.

Instead of spewing more endless dribble about what I've learned, I'll show you!

Here's a photo taken using front lighting. Notice how the colors pop:




And here's one using side lighting - notice how the texture and shadows of the leaves pop, rather than the color:

And, lastly, this one, which employs back light:

I have another couple of classes coming up, and like a good little photo geek I'm so looking forward to them!