Lighting How To

Lynne Eodice is an accomplished writer/photographer and a regular contributor to Photographic magazine.

The word photography literally means "painting with light." Thus, twilight is one of the best times to take pictures, as the light at that time is magical. You can capture colorful clouds at sunset time, silhouetted objects against a colorful sky, or the...

Commercial photographer Lou Freeman specializes in fashion/glamour work and in the 4-minute video below she shows you how to make great outdoor portraits in direct sunlight.

Finland’s dark winter months are when nature photographer Hannu Huhtamo is most active, using the nearly two-month polar night as his background for some exceptional light paintings. He employs nothing more than flashlights, his camera and some simple tools to capture these otherworldly images.

Electronic Flash : More than just spare light

What is an electronic flash unit? For one thing, it's spare light, conveniently packaged in a "little black box"—a compact, portable light source that enables you to take photos of many subjects when there isn't enough light to do so...

Most photographers know that a using a simple flash unit isn’t the most effective way to shoot portraits and still-life photos under low-light conditions. If you lack the budget or skills for more complicated lighting setups, the video below is for you.

Toby Harvard calls himself a “fetish photographer” and he takes an unconventional approach to portraiture with his neon-lit images. His vibrant photographs often break the rules of composition, which is one reason his work is so interesting.

One of the first techniques I learned in photography was to use long exposures at night to blur traffic lights. I liked it decades ago, and I still enjoy seeing artful streaks of light superimposed over an urban environment. You never know exactly what the resulting images will look like, and that’s part of the fun. When the background happens to striking, like the Walt Disney Theater in Los Angeles, California (#1), the combination of abstract lights and architecture makes a winning photograph.