Light: Quantity & Quality

"Learning to capture Light will make

extraordinary images from ordinary subjects." -Ed Heaton

Hopefully Ed you don't mind me using your quote for my next little segment. This month it's all about lighting. This is subject that I'll admit that I'm no expert in, I take away when I should add and add when I should take away. To understand Light you have to understand that it falls into two categories: Quantity & Quality.

Quantity has to do with exposure, or intensity of illumination. We control that with aperture, (the amount we let in) and shutter the speed that we record the light. Quality is the mood of the light, warm or cool, harsh or soft.

We used to have to use a gray scale card to measure light. Some still use a hand held meter, but thanks to the digital age most of it is taken care of in camera. But a helpful hint, something I'm doing alittle more is to carry an 18%gray card with me to get a better reading. Because even with all of the camera technology they can still miss true light.

Quality is measured with the way the light comes in: Side lighting, Front lighting and Back ligthing. On a bright sunny afternoon it's a harsh light with no shadows, but morning and late afternoon there are long shadows and warmth. Cloudy days give a soft diffused light which is perfect for a long shutter. And just because the sun goes down doesn't mean you have to stop shooting. If you live in a city there are endless possibilities of night shots. The images above are images I used for side lighting with shadows. I like to keep the light on the side for the shadows. To me they add an extra dimension.

Hope you enjoy

Nick