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LIGHTING THE SHOTPhotography is all about light, and the more you understand about lighting your image, the better your pictures can be. Lighting doesn’t have to be technical and complicated. Here are some typical lighting challenges and solutions:
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| |  | The Problem
Too little or too much light
(over or underexposure)
Why It’s Happening
Four variable factors combine to determine if an image will be too dark or too light:
- The quantity of light itself
- How much time the image is exposed to light (shutter speed)
- How big the aperture is (the opening in the lens through which light is gathered)
- The sensor sensitivity to light (ISO) Exposure problems occur when these factors are not in balance or there is just too little light.
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| Click Tip: Some cameras feature tools such as a histogram or flashing highlights that help enable you to determine exposure problems.
 | The Solution
Your camera should automatically adjust to fix the exposure. If it doesn’t, adjust your settings manually.
- Automatic ISO Setting : Offers more sensitivity than film. This feature enables the camera to capture images in lower light and adjust the ISO as needed for each shot.
- Auto Flash : Most digital cameras automatically detect if flash is needed.
- TTL Flash : Uses data from the camera’s focusing system to automatically set the flash to the right power to light the subject correctly.
- Face-Detection : Cameras with this feature can do a better job because they set the flash and exposure settings to automatically favor the faces of people. Without this feature, the camera might try to light the overall scene, adding too much light for the people especially when the image includes a large dark background.
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| Click Tip: If you can’t adjust the amount of light in the room, adjust the amount of light that the camera lets in by adjusting your ISO setting. The higher the setting, the less light that is needed. But…be warned — if your ISO setting is too high, your pictures can take on a “noisy” quality.
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Wrong type of lighting for your settings (which impacts colour balance)
Why It's Happening
Film has a fixed white balance. For instance, when daylight film is used indoors, it renders very yellow-looking images.
The Solution
Most digital cameras feature
- Automatic White Balance : Automatically sets the balance before each photo.
- Scene Modes : Adjusts the camera exposure, white balance and other settings based on the situation. Indoor scene modes adjust white balance for indoor lighting, while beach would set it for sunlight.
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 | The Problem
Undesirable results caused by lighting, such as blur and red-eye
Why It's Happening
The factors that control light also control other photographic effects. For instance, exposure is controlled by the shutter speed. The longer the image is exposed, the less light is required. However, a longer exposure is more likely to create blur.
Sometimes mixing lighting (such as a camera flash and room lights) also create issues such as improper white balance or red-eye.
The Solution
- Automatic ISO adjustment and Anti-Blur Modes : Minimise the effect that low light has on creating blurry images. Image Stabilised Lenses or Sensors : Reduce these factors.
- Red-Eye Flash Modes : Fire a pre-flash to help minimise red-eye. Automatic Red-Eye Correction : Detects red-eye in the image and corrects it.
- Scene Modes : Can be selected for various types of shooting situations to minimise these effects by automatically setting the correct exposure and white balance to product good images.
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Unflattering lighting
Why It's Happening
Lighting can be unflattering if it is too harsh or destroys the atmosphere of the photograph.
The Solution
- High ISO : Allows you to avoid using direct, on-camera flash.
- TTL Flash : Controls flash output to prevent blowing out image.
- Face DetectionM : Further optimises for faces while balancing camera settings to properly expose the background.
- Rear-Sync Flash and Auto Fill-Flash : Blend the flash with natural lighting and light/ shadow combinations.
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 | The Problem
Situational lighting problems
Why It's Happening
The meter inside cameras assumes an average blend of light and dark in the scene and adjusts from there. It also assumes that the light it sees is coming from a reflected light source and that the subject has this average reflectivity. However, there are many situations where these assumptions are not true. For instance, fireworks, beach or snow scenes, images of shiny surfaces and underwater scenes.
The Solution
Professional photographers understand all the underlying technology, settings and lighting formulas for these situations, but most of today’s digital cameras allow you to simply set Scene Modes that activate the correct settings for success.
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Click Tip: When shooting in the snow, the snow reflects so much light that it acts as a second light source. Be sure to adjust the white balance, or see if your camera has a scene mode (for snow) to avoid a bluish tinge.
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| | Additional Photography Resources |
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