Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light

Book description

Light. It's the most powerful tool that any photography has at their disposal. Whether the lens is turned to people, wildlife or the landscape, it is often the creative use of light that transforms a snapshot into a photograph. Chasing the Light will enlighten photographers of all levels and help them make the most of this most important tool--light.

With over 25 years of experience in the photographic industry as a photographer, writer, and educator, Ibarionex Parello has developed an approach to photography that has helped photography enthusiasts from all over the world discover and nurture their own passion for photography. In Chasing the Light, he brings his palpable passion to the subject as he guides the reader through many scenarios--landscape, action, portraits--using his principle of the "Three Qs" (Quantity, Quality, and Qolor). Utilizing a very personal approach rooted in decades of experience, he shares how to see, control, and use available light to create beautiful and impactful photographs.

By developing the way photographers "see" light, Chasing the Light aids them to make the connection between the camera and their own eye; and the buttons and dials that control focus, exposure, white balance, and sharpness.

In an industry so filled with obsessions about gear, Chasing the Light removes much of that from the discussion and returns the reader to a basic, yet inspirational, conversation about leveraging light to take evocative photographs.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. About the Author
  4. Foreword
  5. Introduction
  6. Beginning to See
    1. Awakening to the Light
    2. Asking Yourself Three Simple Questions
    3. Letting the Light Guide You
  7. The Elements of Exposure
    1. The Challenge of Exposure
    2. The Fundamentals of Exposure
    3. The Mechanics of Metering
    4. Interpreting the Light
  8. The Camera, the Exposure, and You
    1. Seeing as the Camera
    2. Creating a Starting Point
    3. Knowing When to Bias
    4. Shutter Speed, ISO, and Focal Length
    5. Beginning with ISO
    6. Slowing Down with Manual Mode
  9. The Color of Light: White Balance
    1. Feeling Color
    2. Light’s Impact on Color
    3. Understanding White Balance
    4. Setting White Balance
    5. White Balance and Raw
    6. The Role of Color
  10. Building Visually
    1. The Five Visual Draws
    2. Combining Elements
    3. The Risk of Competition
  11. Light and the Portrait
    1. Direct Sunlight
    2. Open Shade
    3. Window Light
    4. Reflecting Light
    5. Light and Flash
  12. Light and the Small Details
    1. It’s a Small World
    2. Direct and Diffused Sunlight
    3. The Direction of the Light
    4. A Diverse Palette
  13. Light and the Natural Landscape
    1. It’s Always about the Light
    2. The Magic Hour
    3. The Foreground Element
    4. The Subject at Your Feet
    5. Slowing Down for Nature
  14. Light and the Urban Landscape
    1. Combating Literalness
    2. Light and Shadow
    3. Light and the Graphic Element
    4. Life and Light in the City
    5. The Magic of Night
  15. Light and Black-and-White
    1. Personal Reality through Black-and-White
    2. Choice of Emphasis
    3. The Beauty of Gradation
    4. Black-and-White Conversion
  16. Wrangling the Light
    1. Naturally Occurring Reflectors
    2. Reflectors and Scrims
    3. Using Flash
  17. The Transformative Power of Light
    1. The Curse of Comparison
    2. The Answer Is in the Light
    3. Get the Gear out of the Way
    4. The Joy of Seeing
    5. Your Journey Begins Now
  18. Resources
    1. Podcasts
    2. Blogs
    3. Online Learning
  19. INDEX

Product information

  • Title: Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light
  • Author(s): Ibarionex Perello
  • Release date: March 2011
  • Publisher(s): New Riders
  • ISBN: 9780132616584