How to get the best lighting for every shot
Consider the environment – When it comes to shooting events, there are many things to take into consideration. Is the event outdoors or indoors, is it during the day or at night? All these elements will affect your choice of lighting.
Lighting sources – The most important part of event photography is finding and capturing great moments. If the venue you’re shooting in is dimly lit, you may need the help of additional lighting sources. Whereas if it’s a bright outdoor daytime event, take into account the natural lighting and direction of the sun to avoid any unwanted shadows that can ruin your shot.
Natural light – Where possible, work with the natural lighting of the venue and avoid flashes as much as possible, or you can miss out on capturing the essence of the event.
Best event photography camera: Nikon D750
Food photos are everywhere at the moment. Whether they’re images on UberEats or you’re scrolling through the Gram and notice a drool-worthy photo by a food blogger, the key to any craving-inducing food photo begins with a good lighting setup. Good lighting for food photography requires three elements: sidelight, a diffuser and a reflector.
The sidelight – the light source being used next to your scene. This could be natural or artificial lighting. The key is to place your subject with the light falling onto it from either side.
The diffuser – should be placed between your subject and your light source to soften the light, creating a dreamy glow. Using a diffuser, helps to distribute and diffuse the light evenly over your subject.
The reflector – to evenly light your creation, place the reflector on the other side of your scene to fill in any shadows that are created. While a reflector does not create new light, it does redirect the existing light to the direction it is pointed. Use a reflector to bounce diffused light back onto your culinary creations, and lift any leftover shadows to showcase the detail of your subject.
Bon appetit, edible images in an instant!
Best food photography camera: Canon Rebel T6i
The goal of product photography is literally to show your products in the best light. Enticing window shoppers to purchase your scroll-stopping products requires the right lighting. When it comes to product photography there are three lighting fundamentals that will ensure you nail your shot every time: your key, fill and back lights.
The Key Light: your main light source, this should always be pointed directly at the product you are shooting.
The Fill Light: is a lower intensity light, used as your secondary light source and should be positioned on the opposite side of the key light. (Play around with placing the light further away to see what works for your shot.)
The Back Light: can either be a single light or two lights that are positioned behind, or behind and above the product you are shooting. The back light is used to give greater definition to the product, ensuring that it doesn’t fade into the background.
Best product photography camera: Nikon D850
Portrait photography is about capturing the essence of your subject and like every area of photography, it’s about showing your subject in the best light. Whether you’re creating corporate headshots or in the studio shooting models for an ad campaign, lighting is the foundation of any well executed portrait photograph. Playing around with lighting can change the mood of the photo and help create beautiful shadows that can really flatter your subject, showing off their best features while minimising the features they may not like. Lighting is also used to help create and convey emotion in your images. Darker lighting can be used to create dramatic, moody images, while brighter lighting can convey happiness and openness. The three lighting elements of portrait photography are: front lighting, side lighting and backlighting.
Front Lighting: To set up your front lighting, position your model so that the light is directly in front of them to bring out the detail in their face and body, and allow shadows to fall behind them.
Side Lighting: Bring depth into your photos by using side lighting. Position your light source so that the light hits your model from the side to create beautiful shadows and depth. Watch how the shadow falls and either adjust your model or light source to create interesting or more flattering shadows.
Back Lighting: Your final light source in portrait photography is back lighting. This is probably one of the trickiest setups to get right, but once you get the hang of it, you can create portraits that really pop and give your model a beautiful glow. Backlighting is used to create depth and bring emotion to your photographs. When used correctly, backlighting creates a dramatic contrast between your model and the background.
To effectively use back lighting, you will need an understanding of your camera’s manual mode. When placing a light behind your model, all the light’s shadows will be in front of your subject turning them into a silhouette. However, adjusting the exposure using the manual modes of your camera will ensure that your subject is properly exposed. Proceed with caution and adjust your camera’s exposure as need be because sometimes this can leave the background overexposed. An overexposed image is the result of too much light being allowed in during exposure, resulting in an over bright photograph. Overexposure can leave you with images that lack detail and prevent you from conveying the highlights or shadows of the subject you are photographing.
Top tip to prevent an overexposed background: Use a reflector or a flash in front of your model to provide a more even exposure, while maintaining a beautiful, soft backlit glow.
Best portrait photography camera: Nikon D850
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