Digital Photography Lighting Tips

Shedding Some Light on Digital Photography

 

Every photographer has been through it. You set up or stumble upon what you believe is the perfect picture. The colors, the shapes, the composition; everything is perfect. Then you take the shot. Suddenly the perfect subject has red eyes, or is bright white, or is so dark you're not even sure what you were taking a picture of, or is overshadowed completely by a shadow or background, all because of bad lighting. We can't control the lighting in every shot we take, be it for lack of equipment, or lack of being able to change the lighting, but there are some simple steps you can take to help fix lighting problems in your pictures.

Turn Off Auto Mode

The first and most general (but important) tip I can give you that will solve a lot of lighting problems is to turn off auto mode. The camera has a light sensor that determines what light settings the camera should be at. However, you have a far superior sensor called "the eye." Your eye can detect when the camera settings aren't quite what you're looking for. If your camera has it (and most digitals do) switch to a mode that isn't auto (there are lots to choose from) and play with the functions until you find something that makes the picture look like you want. The only problem is, if you don't know a lot about the inner workings of a camera and what all the features mean, you may have to do a little researching and experimenting to learn how to get your pictures just right.

Over & Under Exposure

The most common lighting problems are under or over exposure of your picture. When dealing with high or low light situations, try using bracketing. Many cameras come with this feature, but if your camera doesn't, it's easy enough to do by hand. You do this by taking one picture on the settings the camera determines is best for the lighting. Then take two more pictures: one that is slightly overexposed and one that is slightly underexposed (You may have to do a little searching to find this feature on your camera. It should be in the same menu as the settings to adjust the flash). This way, even if the camera isn't properly determining the lighting, you should get one picture with the proper exposure.

Red Eye

The most common problem when taking pictures of people is red eye. Red eye is caused by the flash being reflected off the eye of the subject and back into the camera. So obviously, the easiest way to avoid red eye is to not use a flash. If using a flash cannot be avoided, make sure your subject isn't looking directly at the camera. This way, the flash will be reflected off their eye, but not back at the lens. Many digital cameras now come with a red eye feature. This works by flashing a few times before the actual flash, so the pupils contract and not enough light can get into the eye to be reflected back. This isn't the best method for getting rid of red eye, but if you decide to use it, make sure the subject is looking directly at the camera for all the flashes; otherwise their eyes won't adjust for the actual flash. The last option, if red eye can't be avoided, is editing it out afterwards. Most photo editing programs come with built in red eye remover tools which are pretty easy to use.

Diffuse Natural Lighting

Another problem is harsh lighting that reflects unevenly off the subject (we all want our pictures to shine, but not that way). One quick way to fix this is to diffuse natural lighting. For outdoor shots, take your pictures at dusk and dawn. This reduces strong glare and harsh shadows. For indoor pictures, try using as much natural lighting as possible, like a window or candle. It's best not to use a flash if possible, but if you must try bouncing it off the ceiling and diffusing the light with your hand (just hold an open hand tilted above the flash). Of course, you can only use this technique with a separate flash, as opposed to one mounted on the camera. So I would recommend buying an external flash or at least make sure your camera comes with a hot shoe (where you attach a flash) in case you decide to get one later.

These are just a few tips that will hopefully get you started on having perfectly lighted pictures every time.