Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers

122 Using Light

There are two sides to the exposure equation explained

in Chapter 1: the exposure setting used in the camera,

and the light the camera is capturing. So far, this book

has mostly looked at the camera’s side of the equation;

in this chapter it’s time to pay some attention to the oth

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e

r side (you might say the “bright side”), light itself.

It has been said that 90 percent of photography is just

being there. If photography is about writing with light,

to give yourself a chance of taking great photos, how do

you increase your chances of “being there” when the

light is great (so that you can “write” with it)?

There’s no single answer to this very important ques-

tion. The best advice I can give you is to become a

careful observer of light. As you watch light, and gain

understanding of how light sources interact with each

other and the weather, you’ll begin to be better able

to predict how light will change. This experience will

help guide your quest for the perfect light.

One approach is to create your own light using flash

(pages 144–145) or other light sources, possibly in a

studio (pages 146–149). (As I’ll explain, a studio doesn’t

have to be fancy; sometimes an ordinary household

light will work fine as the light source.) And often,

even if you are not the originator of the way a subject

is lit, you may want to modify the lighting, ...