Make good use of natural light

Photography and light are inextricably linked, canvas prints or the first step to a successful photograph is to learn how to use light. Natural light has its own characteristics at different times and in different weather conditions. It is better to analyze the characteristics of natural light under various circumstances and teach everyone how to make good use of natural light to shoot!

About natural light

Everyone knows that only light can make a photograph, cheap canvas printing so light plays a very important role in the success or failure of a photograph. Indoor we can use a variety of artificial light sources, such as flash, light tube to shoot; While in the outdoor environment, photographers can make good use of natural light, that is, sunlight on the earth's light. We may find that even if the same subject is photographed, the effect will be different at different times. Sometimes the image may appear stiff, and sometimes it may be soft. Or the color of the image is sometimes cold, sometimes warm, and these are actually related to natural light.

The time of day, the weather, and even the direction of the camera also affect the effect of natural light on the subject. There are three main types of natural light projected on the subject: direct light, floating canvas frame scattered light and reflected light. Examples of direct light include natural light that is not obscured by clouds and fog, which produces warmer colors, and images taken with this light have higher contrast. Scattered light, such as sunlight passing through clouds and fog, produces cooler colors and produces images with lower contrast. Reflected light is light from other reflective surfaces, which is softer. The subject is exposed to that light depending on the timing of the shot and the weather, which can affect the white flush and contrast of the image.

Natural light changes with time

The characteristics of natural light will change with time. For example, when shooting at noon, the sun is high above our head, and the sunlight is mostly from the top of our head, making the subject generate strong shadows. At this time, the image has the highest contrast. When the position of the sun gradually drops after noon and gets closer to the position of the horizontal line, the light will have to travel a longer distance in the atmosphere before it reaches the same subject, and the light will scatter or diffuse more in the atmosphere, producing softer light.

In addition, the original light through the atmosphere during the blue light will be absorbed, so if the sun more close to the horizontal position, the light in the air long walking distance, namely the more blue light is absorbed, the light will present the effect of warm color tone, which explains why the sunrise and sunset when the warm sunshine with red and yellow.

Natural light at different times

At midday

At noon, the subject is subject to direct light. The sun is at its highest point of the day, and the light is directed down on the subject. This kind of direct light is hard and easy to create strong shadows on the subject. For example, when a portrait is taken, strong shadows will be generated under the nose, eyes and neck of the face of the subject, and the effect may not be ideal.

In addition to the light quality, the hue of natural light changes over time. On a clear day, the color temperature of the light at noon is about 5200 to 5600K. At this time, if the daylight white balance is used to shoot, the image will present the most natural color. If taken at other times, such as at sunset, the color will be warmer. Or in cloudy days, the color will be cold. A lot of photography people also like to make good use of color, the effect of the changes to build or have too noon taken tonal so natural.

In the morning time

In the morning and evening photos, the sun is between the highest and lowest positions. As the light from a higher position is projected on the subject, the subject will appear more three-dimensional. The light at this time will create a slightly warm tone, the light quality is not as hard as the light at noon is relatively soft, and the shadow produced on the main body is not as strong as at noon, these characteristics provide good shooting conditions. In places in the northern hemisphere, such as Europe, where there is more sunlight in the summer, late evening light also has the characteristics described above.

Sunrise, sunset

The hour after sunrise or before sunset is often referred to as "Magic Hours" by photographers. At this time, the position of the sun is quite close to the horizontal line, and the image will show the effect of warm color and be full of the flavor of sunrise and sunset, which is an ideal picture for many photographers. Since we are affected by the warm atmosphere in the scene, we will try our best to keep the warm tone in the image. Therefore, please pay attention to whether the automatic white balance function of the camera will offset the warm effect.

Dawn, dusk

Dawn and dusk refer to half an hour before sunrise and half an hour after sunset. At this time, the sun may not appear yet, or the sun has already set. The overall environment is relatively dark, but the sky can also be seen faint light. At this time, the sky color changes a lot, which may be warm red, or cold blue purple?

We have to pay attention to be taken when the camera's automatic metering can achieve ideal effect in the heart, for example if the photometric towards the sky, while the light is not so strong as the other during the day time, but also have the opportunity to appear overly underexposed camera, and make images of the scene appears dim, but a small amount of underexposure can help keep the scene atmosphere environment. If the scene is metering, although the subject exposure can be accurate, but the sky part may lose the unique dawn or dusk color due to overexposure, so the photographer may have to slightly reduce the exposure compensation to retain the scene atmosphere.

Take photos under cloudy weather

On cloudy days, when the sun's rays pass through the clouds and hit the ground, the clouds in the sky seem to become a natural light shield. As the light passes through the clouds, it will be refracted and diffused, forming a soft light of scattered light. The quality of shooting with soft light will not produce strong shadows on the subject, which is beneficial for shooting subjects such as people or animals. It also helps if the day is sunny, as this light enhances the color saturation of the subject. However, images taken with soft light have low contrast and are weak in expressing the texture of the subject. If the scattered light is reflected from the reflected surface, the light will appear softer. In addition, the photographer or to pay attention to the image of the white flat, in the cloudy day of the image or partial blues, you can use the cloudy day white balance to shoot, or even join the RAW file shooting, glass prints online if necessary in the post processing of the image of the white balance.