Sunday, March 25, 2012

Tips for Still Photography

By Nicholas Lancaster


Taking quality photographs is an art to say the least. There is a lot more involved than just point and click. Good lighting is important in capturing the perfect photo. Adding lights and angling properly is only part of the battle, but the camera being used is also integral. Depending on the goal of your photo, there are many different types of lighting you can use. The type of lighting you want to utilize is dependent on your subject and the purpose of your photo.

What does it mean to know the subject?

Stills can encompass many things or individuals. Taking a picture for a book will be different from taking a photo of a high fashion model. Direct lighting may be necessary for shooting things such as fruit bowls or vehicles.

How can I make lighting more dramatic? To create shadow effects, some photographers will use silver or white reflectors. White absorbs shadows while black creates them. You can also change the angles of the lighting. A term in photography for using regular household bulbs for the lighting rather than the big florescent lamps is known as tungsten light. Most cameras that are on the market to be sold today are made for bright lights.

Positioning my lighting.

There are actually two common kinds of set-ups that will not require a lot of light. Only two lights are required for the first set up. One will be placed six feet from the object at a 45 degree angle. The next light is focused on the background image. In order to make the object of the photo stand out, the background should be white. The background will turn out gray, if you use anything other than white. The other two light set-ups that is commonly used is one light pointed at the background to pull the model or object forward and the other light is shot through umbrella. The umbrella creates overhead lighting with the box above the object or model. You may ask the model to hold a reflector to avoid unwanted shadows.




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