Light is the origin of photography

If there's one thing that matters in a photograph, it's probably light. No matter how good the scenery is, if there is no proper light, the final shot will be eclipsed. And a good spot light, also decided to be able to improve the quality of a photo itself. It is very difficult to get perfect light, whether it is natural light or artificial light in the studio. When we take photos, we often find that the light is too strong or too dark. Facing various lights, we need rich experience to change according to circumstances. Understanding light is one of the prerequisites for a good photograph. What do we need to know about light?

1. Pay attention to color temperature

Each light has its own color temperature, which our eyes and brain interpret as different colors. But our camera's sensors don't always record the true color temperature, so we can see all kinds of color biases in the photos we take. Even the most faithful record of light may have a better performance in our mind, which is not a problem. After all, we can easily correct the color temperature in the later stage to make the picture meet the ideal in our mind.

2. Consider diffuse reflection

In any case, in portrait photography, you should try to avoid direct light, such as lighting a person's face directly, or shooting a portrait in strong midday light. Direct light can create strong shadows on the face and make the face look older. When shooting portrait, we should try to choose soft light, whether it is natural light or studio light. The light reflected by the reflector can be more scattered, more even, and make the features of portrait look more delicate.

It doesn't matter if we don't have reflectors; we are surrounded by reflective elements. For example, when we shoot indoors, the ceiling and walls are natural reflectors, and lighting on the walls is a good reflection.

3.Consider the Angle of the light

Light from all directions can be directed at your portrait to express a different mood. In portrait photography, we often use the front lighting, which can minimize the shadow on the face and make the face look softer and less prominent even if there are wrinkles. However, this kind of frontal photo is somewhat boring, just like the document photo, in order to take a creative portrait, or should consider the shadow.

When the light shines from the side to the subject, it will form shadows on the backlit side of the subject and make the face of the subject more dramatic and artistic. While backlight is a common type of silhouette shooting, but when we use backlight, it means we need to enlarge the details of the background, reduce the details of the subject, and make the whole subject appear in the dark outline.

4.Shadows make the subject more three-dimensional

Shadows can be a great way to make a picture look more three-dimensional. If the light is too uniform and soft, it will make the picture look more peaceful and lose the depth of the image.

5.Know the decay of light

The intensity of light is inversely proportional to the distance. We don't need to study the physics to understand the principle. As long as we know, the intensity of light will gradually decrease with the increase of distance