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Special Notice(s)

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Photography Basics/Introduction to Photography class.

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It’s that time of year when we run up against some of the most challenging light and lighting conditions.
 

Today I worked with a photographer during a private lesson, and we talked about some of those lighting conditions in preparation for the holidays.
 

He mentioned specific things, like visiting New York and photographing his wife in front of the tree at Rockefeller Center at night, as well as photographing holiday family get-togethers.
 

These aren’t the easiest lighting conditions, and it’s times like these when knowing how to work your camera in manual exposure mode and understanding flash photography basics come in handy.

Here are some of the things we went over that you might find helpful, too.

The main thing we’ve gotta do is observe and describe the light we’re working with, because when we do that, we understand the light.
 

Understanding light helps us know what we can do with camera operation and composition.

Lighting Condition Examples
 

Rockefeller Center Tree

The tree is a mix of dark areas (reflective light sources) and bright transmitting light sources (the lights).
 

The contrast range on that alone is too wide for our cameras, especially digital cameras, to record, but when it comes to the tree, do we really need to see the darkest of the dark areas?
 

Chances are pretty good that the people in front of the tree are gonna be darker than the tree, and if we want to see both the people and the tree, we’ll have to add light to the people to reduce the contrast between the tree and the people.

This is where flash comes in handy.

Of course, if the area in front of and around the tree is well-lit, we may not need a flash.

This is why it’s essential to evaluate the light intensity before figuring out what we need to do to get the picture we want.
 

People and The Tree

It helps to have the people who we’re photographing not too close to the tree.
 

This’ll ensure they’re well lit by any flash we’re using and give us a lot of flexibility in the tonal relationship we’re creating between the person we’re photographing and the tree.

Indoor Family Gatherings

We’re usually working with low light intensity and mixed color temperatures.

If we don’t want to get involved in using flash, we’re probably gonna have to bump up our ISO, and it would probably be best to leave your white balance setting on automatic.

If we have a separate flash unit and are feeling adventurous and want to work with flash beyond the usual direct flash on the hot shoe route (which is the only thing we could do is if we have a pop-up flash on our camera) we can bounce flash off a white ceiling or wall to soften the light affecting the peopke beinng illiminted by the flash and to evenly lighlt morre area of the space.
 

Using Flash Effectively

Flash isn’t just for brightness—it’s a tool to balance ambient light.
 

Dial down flash power for subtle fill-flash, and always check your results.
 

The more we practice with it, the better we get at using it.

Why Practice These Techniques?

The difference between a “snapshot” and a thoughtful photograph comes down to understanding light and using your camera with intent. If you want to be ready for those once-in-a-lifetime holiday moments, now’s the time to study and practice.

Questions? Want to know what you know (or don’t know) about photography? Take the Basic Photography and Camera Operation Quiz or use the Photography Instruction Strategy Questionnaire to plan your next steps.

When we study and practice daily, we’ll be ready for the moments that matter the most to us.
 

Keep learning, keep practicing, and let me know what you want to know about photography.

The ways to study and practice photography with me are below.

A note about group class sizes: Did you know that some places that teach photography have up to 25 students in each class? 

Bigger ain't always better.

I keep my group classes small because smaller classes make for better, more effective, and more efficient learning experiences.

But smaller classes also mean spots fill up quicker, so sign up soon.