Lighting How To

In general, taking photos, particularly portraits, in direct sunlight is considered a no-no. The light is simply too harsh and the shadows it produces are unflattering on your subject.

One “rule” many photographers learn when first starting out is to “always shoot with the sun at your back.” This advice may work well for “Kodak Moment” snapshots, or for predictable photos of average scenes, but a different approach is called for if you’re after eye-catching imagery that stands out from the crowd.

There’s an easy way to make your beauty shots even more stunning: just add some colored gels to your lighting. Editorial fashion photographer Jake Hicks shows how in the below video where he shoots a portrait session at home and gets a variety of attractive looks.

There are two primary reasons that some photographers avoid supplemental light when shooting outdoors. One is that they simply prefer the look of natural light imagery—and in most cases we tend to agree. On the other hand, there are those who refuse to use even the most basic speedlight because they don’t understand how it works.

There are a bunch of misconceptions about ISO settings that can hold you back when shooting in the field. Some photographers always shoot at ISO 100 in attempt to avoid noise, while others choose the highest setting available to eliminate camera and subject movement when photographing motion.

Experienced landscape photographers understand the power of negative space when composing an expansive scene. This technique will also deliver dynamic urban imagery when shooting on the street, as you'll see in this eye-opening tutorial from the folks at New Ways of Seeing.

In 2004 I was out late one night for a walk on the beach, as I often did to de-stress from a long day at work. This night was particularly beautiful, with a full moon shining overhead, so I decided to bring my camera and tripod along to take some oceanscapes. I found the perfect location, set up my gear, and opened the shutter of my camera for a long exposure. While the exposure was running I accidentally bumped my camera. When I checked the image and saw that the light from the moon had left a streak going across the sky I had an epiphany. My mind raced at the possibilities of using my camera and the moonlight to draw images in the sky, and from that moment on I was a light painter.