The same exact place can look completely different with varied lighting. A positively charming Victorian home, for example, can look bone-chillingly haunted when lit from below, at night. The same forest, enchanted with dappled afternoon sunshine, can appear foreboding (Blair Witch style) when partially illuminated with the wavering beam of a flashlight.
When it comes to photography, there are many ways to play with light to create the kind of shot you’re aiming for. Mashable spoke to experts, from advertising photographers to fashion and still-life connoisseurs, and collected some vital tips on how to manipulate light.
1. Use the windows to create several stylized looks
Winnie Au specializes in portraits and fashion photography — her work has been featured in places like GQ and Refinery29. Au points out several ways budding photographers can use windows to their photographic advantage.
Diffuse window light for soft, flattering portraits. Au recommends using a window to create “a pretty portrait of a subject indoors without any expense.” Au continues, expanding on this technique: “In the shot above, the subject is lit with a large wall of windows to the left of him, and a white wall is probably about a foot behind him. There is no direct sunlight streaming through the window. You can achieve this effect by photographing your subject with a larger window to the side on a cloudy day (when the light is more diffused), or at a time of day when the sunlight coming through the window is indirect (no noticeable sun rays streaming in creating hard shadows).”
Create dramatic portraits with hard, window-lit sunlight. For a shot more striking (although perhaps not as complementary to your subject), Au recommends using window light, straight-on. “If you want a more dramatic portrait, try to find a window that is not surrounded by other windows. This will guarantee that your key light is coming from this one window light source,” she says.
Referencing the photo above, Au recalls, “This was shot on a very sunny day as the sun was streaming through the window. The window light is again coming from the left side of the subject’s body.”
“As you set up your portrait using hard sunlight, watch how the light looks on your subject’s face. I tend to keep the window to the left of my subjects and you can adjust the lighting by basically having your subject turn towards the window or away from the window. If you watch carefully, you should see the light on your subject’s face dramatically change. The most flattering light would be to have your subject turned slightly more toward the window light.”
When using a window, avoid mixing light sources. James Ransom, a still-life, food and interiors photographer, has been shooting for commercial and editorial publications such as The New York Times and West Elm for over a decade. Ransom stresses the importance of keeping light sources separate when natural light is in the mix. “If someone is using a window as their main source of light, the first thing I would tell them to do is to turn off all of the lights in the room, and any nearby rooms. Daylight and ambient (household) lights show up as different colors in the camera, so when they mix together it can get ugly (think about that time your picture came out really yellow.) Turn off all the lights in the room to isolate your light source, and you’ll be surprised how nice the image comes out.”
2. If the shadows present are not to your liking, “fill” them
If the lighting in your space is too harsh and you’re aiming for another look, fear not. You can always fill shadows yourself, for example, if you’re shooting next to a window and half your subject’s face is in shadow. Au expands on this, “Generally, a fill source is used to soften or eliminate shadows so that you create an overall more flattering portrait of your subject.”
There are a few ways to add a fill source.
Au outlines some ways to do create a fill source: “It can be another light, it can be another window; it can be a reflector. It can be something as simple as a white piece of paper. All you want is something that will make a shadow brighter. In the photo on the left, the large wall of windows to the right of the subject is creating the key light on the subject’s face. In the second version of the photo, on the right, a fill source (a reflector, in this case) has been added to the left side of the subject’s face.”
“If you don’t own a reflector, and would like to have a fill source, try using a large piece of white poster board from an art store. For portraits of people, something about 24 inches x 36 inches in size is good to start. For a small object like a mug, you can use a piece of white paper — the fill source should be similar in size to the shadow area of the object/subject you want to fill. You can also use a white sheet, a white shirt — pretty much anything white will bounce light back into someone’s face.”
3. Bright light or spotlight already in the shot? Consider a filter to add some drama
Legendary rock photographerBob Gruen — famous for being John Lennon’s personal photographer — knows a thing or two about using strong light sources to a photographer’s advantage. Gruen uses shooting concerts as an example: “Often when shooting live stage acts, there are spotlights in view. Using a ‘star’ filter will turn these spots into dramatic starlike streaks and fill the top of the otherwise empty frame with exciting lighting.”
Simply affix the filter to your camera, and voila.
4. Join forces — use a traditional camera along with a digital light source for artistic blurring
Jeremy Cowart, celebrity photographer and founder of OKDOTHIS, shares a fun trick that’s super easy to recreate. Jeremy has photographed celebs like Taylor Swift and the Kardashians, but he’s not above the good old-fashioned selfie. “I love putting my camera on a tripod and then adjusting the shutter speed to a very slow speed to allow blurring to happen. Then I take my iPhone, open an app or two that has lots of interesting colors (like a flashlight app or a kids’ game) and then I wave the iPhone right in front of the lens. The results are always fascinating and you can never repeat them twice,” Cowart says.
5. Remember: Light reflects! Experiment with reflections
New York-based photographer Dale May has worked in many realms — advertising, entertainment, editorial. In his work, he’s “constantly experimenting with light, trying to think outside of the box.” May emphasizes the importance of getting creative when it comes to light: “As photographers, we often think of things in a linear way, lighting our subjects so we can capture them as we see them. But the right lighting can totally change the mood and our perceptions of what is actually there.”
“I think it’s fun to play with reflective surfaces, since light itself is reflective, it can be used to create layers, without using Photoshop, and can be captured with any camera,” May says.
Perhaps, try taking a portrait of someone by using a simple piece of glass. “This can even be done in a window. Frame it so the reflections are the only thing in frame, not your subject itself. You now have the subject’s reflection in the glass and the background landscape behind the glass. This can give the feeling of a double exposure. The secret to a great reflective shot is contrast. Make sure your subject’s face is positioned in the window over a dark part of your background, like trees or a dark building.”
6. Use back-lighting to your advantage
Jen Pottheiser is a New York-based commercial photographer, working with clients that range from the NBA to Nike (athletes are one of her specialties).
Pottheiser explains how to use back-lighting to your advantage: “Amateur photographers always think that bright sun is the best condition for photographs. And while everyone is usually happier when it’s sunny out, bright, direct light is not ideal for portrait images. If you are making pictures at the brightest part of the day, find some shade and place your subjects so their back is to the brightest area. This makes for very romantic, ethereal images. Back-lighting likely won’t work out well on your iPhone, but take out your camera, and you are sure to be pleased with the results.”
Another advantage? No squinting! “Your subject will be able to relax their eyes and they won’t be distorting their face from the bright light,” Pottheiser adds.
Have you toyed with light in photography? Share your techniques in the comments!