Light
is one of the most important considerations of a photographer. In fact, any
photograph captures the effect of light on objects, they are taken in natural
light or the warm glow of incandescent light. A photographer who knows how the
eye and the lens to perceive the color spectrum can
make full use of light in
photography.The color spectrum
Both natural and artificial light, incandescent light appear white to the naked eye. However, if the beams of light through a prism, is decomposed into a rainbow of colors. This effect is shown how the "color" white contains all shades of the color spectrum.
When light hits an object, it absorbs some of the color spectrum and reflects the other colors. The part of the color that is not absorbed by the object, but reflected in the eye is the color that the object appears to the eye. For example, a white wall reflects most of the black color spectrum. Thus, our eyes (and camera lens) see white paper. While a red rose reflects the red color spectrum and absorbs the rest, a black object absorbs the color spectrum.
The natural light color photography
Natural light in the picture is not as uniform as you may think. At different times of day, different shades of the palette with natural light. For example, at noon, the blue spectrum is dominant, producing a "cool" light. Color photograph taken at midday produces the clearest, strongest images in bright light.
However, natural light at dawn and sunset emphasizes the red spectrum. Known as the warm light in the photograph, the light of sunrise and sunset produces warm images with a soft contrast.
Artificial light in photography
When photographers use artificial light in photography, the effect of light depends on the type of lamp used. Scattered in the warm glow of incandescent light produces an effect that is radically different from that produced by the strong, narrow beam, concentrated light from the street.
Pictures taken under incandescent light often have a yellow tinge. A photographer can fight this color in two ways. One method is to use a blue filter to compensate for excessive yellowing. If you use a film camera instead of digital, you can use tungsten film that is designed for professional studio lighting. Although not intentionally designed with incandescent light in mind, the tungsten film reduces yellow tones so often found inside color photography.
Fluorescent lamps produce a diffused light that often results in green color photography. Using a fluorescent filter or during the day helps to eliminate this color unattractive.
Lamps, fluorescent lamps, which can cause a greenish tint in the resulting images. However, a photographer can use this to their advantage in the dark, this quality can green mysterious or ghostly effects.
The direct and diffuse light in photography
The direction of light in photography is important, the different angles of light of different colors, change the appearance of the subject.
The light in the photograph may be diffuse or direct. Direct sunlight, as sunlight of midday, strikes the subject of a direction. If you are looking for a high contrast between light and shadows, direct light is a good choice.
Furthermore, the diffuse light strikes the object from different directions. Fluorescent lighting is an example of the diffuse light in photography. The loss of contrast that produces scattered light mute colors and softens the image.
Digital cameras and lighting in photography
Digital cameras come with settings for specialty lighting. Some of the common parameters:
• Automatic: When you want the camera to adapt to changing light
• Disruption: for use outdoors in a sunny or cloudy
• daylight or under the sun outside and bright sunlight
• Flash: to flash photography
• The fluorescent: scenes lit by fluorescent lamps
• incandescent or tungsten: for incandescent lighting
• Manual: When you want to manage the lighting of each shot. This requires the photographer to point the camera at the white paper to change the light settings manually.
Photographs in color or black and white?
While lighting is important for color photography, is even more important for black and white photography or sepia. Although this appears to contra-intuitive, the lack of color means that the key element of the black and white photography, is the contrast between light and shadow.
The basic rules of light in photography apply to black and white as they do in color photography. For example, direct light creates a greater contrast than diffuse light. Because the contrast between light and shadow is much more evident in black and white in color photography, the photographer must choose to direct light when composing the shot.
