LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE--2

DEFINE good lighting?...........the most difficult question, if asked to define good lighting. the good lighting for a given moment, cannot be defined.....different situations require different kind of lighting. ...LIGHTING for a table-top is different for lighting for portraits. in the same way, when talking about lighting for landscapes, the lighting for a mountain-side will not be suitable for buildings or a seashore/beach. this is the place where an expert photographer can show his capability.
MANY people may think that the natural lighting cannot be controlled. here the question to the newbies and the experienced photographers may put in dilemma how one can control the existing natural light. however, the fact is that the natural light can be controlled and used in a variety of ways.
THE light falling on the subject can be softened by allowing it to pass through a diffuser such as a translucent sheet of plastic, or a paper. by varying the degree of translucency of the diffuser, the degree of softness of the light can also be altered......the mirrors or different polished or reflective surfaces can be used to redirect light into the frame. however, reflectors can be of many types. ..a simple mirror can be used as reflector that can redirect almost 100% of the light. a crumpled piece of foil redirects the light but the effect will be softer than that of mirror........GOLD reflectors can be used to achieve a warmer effect. others, such as white paper/thermocole can be used as effective reflectors to redirect natural light. next we may think of controlling natural light is by using a flash gun as fill-in, wherein the natural light behaves as the main source of lighting the subject. u might have witnessed the big reflectors on the TV,while shooting serials/films, being used to throw back the natural light on the subjects, either as main light(such as in shooting against light) or as fill in from sides/fronts, or mirrors to enhance the hair-lighting........to continue......(cgshroti@ymail.com)

LIGHTING--PHOTOGRAPHY'S LIFE

ANY writing, essay, or blog shd first consider this aspect of photography:what is lighting, how lighting affects photography, photography cannot be imagined without light, sources of light, effect of light on films/sensors, how images are made.........there are several questions without answering/understanding them, u cannot start photography because light is the main component in the success or failure of photography.......the light is such a powerful tool,... that appearance of a person or object can change a lot with the change in direction and source of light....the perception of light does not involve just the source of light but also the quality of light.
LIGHT is a most strong element that affects every stage in the image making process.....visible lighting is just a part of electromagnetic spectrum(energy travelling in wave form). if any of the wavelengths are filtered or absorbed, we get a definite colour and the colour quality of light also varies with the position of the sun in the sky. for example, at sunrise or sunset it is warmer, due to absorption of longer wavelengths.

RULE OF THIRDS --PHOTOGRAPHY

USually the photographers are unaware of certain rules which shd dominate their composition.......otherwise the photographs will satisfy u only and not the publishers/competition judges.........and u will never come out of

that well......HERE i relate for ur benefit the most imp of all rules-RULE OF THIRDS--.........this is the most used compositional guideline. this rule was initially used by painters to create proper visual balance in their paintings..................photography has borrowed from this and used this rule to define visual balance in a photograph.

DIVIde the picture horizontally and vertically into thirds......the main subject of interest of your photograph shd be within the four intersection points of the diagram..........generally, the ease with which this rule can be applied depends upon the subject as well as the situation. .........the rule of thirds cannot be used easily with landscapes because the object within the frame cannot be moved.........what can be done, however, is that the perspective and position of the photographer can be changed to allow for the rule to apply so that the photograph shd be visually appealing to the viewer.....however there are different branches in photography, where this rule can 'rule' easily and effectively to save photograph being disintegrated.

SHOOTING FIREWORKS

THere are moments, when u cannot keep your camera in almirah. ...and that is the time shooting fireworks after sun sets......more than 75% of the photographers i met were curious of shooting fireworks.............................SNAP up beautiful fireworks using a d-cam with a shutter speed longer than 1/2 a second. ideally choose a shutter speed 2 to 10 seconds to capture all the sparkle. most essential, u will require a TRIPOD to avoid shaky, haphazard photos. so are the dangerous, the vibrations. if remote shutter release can be used, the better, otherwise a long lockable cable release may be the best alternative.
SET ISO setting to the lowest to reduce noise/grains. .....preview the shot on the LCD panel and accordingly adjust the aperture(shutter speed /aperture combination). while viewing fireworks on LCD screen, u will understand which aperture will be best for shutter speed of say 1/4 sec.so u can try f8,f11,f16 and take the shots to get the bright sharp photos.
FOR multiple fireworks u can use bulb setting, but be cautious to close the shutter, or put the lens cap over the lens, if used, as soon as the multi-bursts are out, to be at safer side..............u can shoot from a distance also to include the city lights, river, bridge etc which are already lighted by the city lights.........in this setting, if the bursts are many at side-by-side, u will get a good capture........so a simple but creative/lucrative happening for ur photography......good luck.

CANDIDS OF A CHILD.

PHOTOgraphing a child in his or her own element can capture a level of innocence that u never achieved with a 'posed' shot. ......take snapshots while the child is playing, watching tv, reading, jumping or just about doing anything..............you may never know where u may strike a gold and get that shot of a lifetime.

AUTOMATIC FLASH IN PRACTICE

AUTOmatic or computer flash units are designed to give correct amount of flash illumination for subject of various distances without the need for calculations based on a guide no............They do this by adjusting the duration of the flash automatically according to the subject range.
BEcause an auto flash guages the exposure according to the amount of light reflected from the subject, it also automatically takes into account the overall lightness or darkness of the scene in front of it. When the light sensor reads that the subject has received the enough light for the ISO set and aperture in use, it cut off the light.
SO all thing being equal, the closure the subject is to the camera, the shorter the total flash duration. u just set an aperture to suit your ISO speed, and keep that aperture for all distances within the flash range and your subject will be correctly exposed. ........what the newbies do. they set the aperture at f5.6 and flash on auto at f.5.6 at ISO 100, they go on exposing and slightly increase the aperture to f4, f3.5 in long distances (12 to 15 ft above) and get the correct exposure.......nowdays the ultimate weapon is the auto flash gun for photographers.

COLOUR BLUR

DEliberate waving around of the camera during longish exposures can produce very attractive abstract photographs. this works more successfully usually with colour rather than b&w,
THe different colours can paint an exciting abstract image when abstract tonal variations are seldom interesting. this will quench the thirst of the photographers who wish to experiment for abstract creation of images rather than direct capturing of images. on one site, I noticed that photographers were craving for abstract photographs but unable to do so and many a times confused realistic photograph as abstract. abstract in photography is a different dimension than paintings. still creation is a creation whatever the medium. modern day d-cams have sufficient opportunities to experiment and make colour abstracts. this i have seen in some exhibitions. the competition organisers may keep one section as ''Abstract Photography'' in colour.
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