This month’s theme over at Share Six is Light. Photography is all about light. When you break down the word, the Greek prefix photo- means “light”, and the suffix -graphy meaning “process of writing or recording”. So when we practice photography we are recording light.
Every setting we choose on our camera comes back to light and how we want the camera to record it. This is what makes photography so fun. It’s where we can really use our creativity to create art.
Often, photographers will choose to specialize in a specific style of lighting. Many photographers strictly use natural light, and others strictly use studio (artificial) light, and still others will use a mixture of both. I know of many photographers who are strictly natural light photographers and will only photograph during the golden hour (about an hour before sunset), to be sure that all of their pictures look cohesive. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with any of these styles. I love that you can tell what photographer took a picture simply by it’s style. And yet, I don’t do that myself. When I first started photography I told myself I was going to be strictly a natural light photographer. Then I started seeing the creative things you could do with artificial light. So now I use all of the different methods. As a portrait photographer, I try to work around my clients schedules. So that means I can’t always photograph my clients at the same time of day with the same type of lighting. So I tailor my settings to what time of day it is, what kind of mood we are trying to convey, etc.
These first two images are ones in which I used a combination of natural light and off camera flash. My goal with this first one was to capture the light from the sky bridge in the background (the natural/available light). I had to use off camera flash though to light my subjects and the fountain. I used three off camera flashes – one on my subjects and one on each side of the fountain. The whole fountain area was pitch black, so off camera flash was necessary.
This next picture was taken while we were on vacation. I wanted to capture the beautiful sky, but also get the kids. The fire light wasn’t giving off enough light, so I used off camera flash to light them. I also placed another flash pointed at the kayaks to give them a pop of light as well.
These next images are photographed with the available natural lighting of the location.
These last two are also just the natural lighting of the setting. I thought they were especially fitting for this theme as Advent and Christmas are all about the coming of Jesus, the LIGHT of the world, to live in the flesh among us.
Well thanks so much for stopping by to see my interpretation of this month’s theme! Head on over to Sharleen’s blog to see her take on the theme by clicking HERE.