The Power is in Your Hands: Controlling Light Outside Your Camera

Besides controlling the light inside your camera, there is a lot  you can do outside your camera. First and foremost, before you take your picture, ask yourself, "Where is the light coming from?" Remember, all that light is powerful and it can easily blow out a picture, leaving everything too bright. So move yourself around and find a way to make sure that the light you are using--whatever the source is--does not detract from the focus of your photo.

Below is an example of some really strong light. I was at my sister's house and taking photos of my beautiful baby nephew Max (who is no longer a baby but still beautiful) and I just loved how soft and peachy his skin was and the pure cobalt blue of his eyes. He was stuck in his high chair next to the window at the dining room table and I really wanted to catch that moment of wonder on his face. However, the light from the window was really hard and really bright--too much for me to take his photo straight on. So I kept calling his name, making his head turn as I moved around, until I saw the light reflect off my shirt and onto his face which made it so the side of his head didn't blow out the rest of the picture with extreme highlights and leave the rest of his face in the dark.

Another thing you can do is make a silhouette. Silhouettes can be very powerful images because quite literally, opposites attract! Color versus no color put into one photo is eye catching because the negative shape forces our brain to think about the contents of the photo and wonder what the detail really was. It can also bring out the detail of the edges like the fur sticking out of this monkey's brow. To make a silhouette, you need to face towards the light and put an object between you two so that the brightest point of your light source is directly behind the object.

Here is a really good example of the unintentional silhouette. 

Backstory: I was camping on a remote island in Thailand called Ko Lao Lieng when the Thai Navy showed up to look for drug smugglers. Armed with their AK47's, they walked around our camp and the neighboring fishing village looking for drugs (thankfully none were found!) but were cordial and quite friendly through the whole thing. Being the outgoing person I am, I asked if they would take a picture with me and they were delighted. This is one of my favorite memories from the trip and one I really wish had turned out on film.

What happened: We were all standing under a tree which put us in shadow while everything behind us was illuminated by the mid-day sun. Because of our position, we were turned into silhouettes. 

How to avoid this: Now, I am pretty anti-flash. In fact, I really had a hard time finding any photos at all for this post where I used a flash, and so I decided on a photo where I should have used one. If I had turned on the flash, the photo would have come out better because it would have filled the dark places and left the background light. The other way this could have been fixed: if the person takign the photo had walked around to the other side of us so that our light source was shining on us and not behind us. We still would have been dark but not as dark.

C'est la vie. You don't always need your flash (in fact, I would say 95% of the time you don't) but sometimes, being aware of your light source will make you more aware of your needs and hopefully you won't lose a moment like this because you were too stubborn (like me) to turn on the flash!

One cool way to light things is through them. Bubbles are a great example of this. Anything translucent can be made interesting. Try experimenting with bubble wrap, tissue paper, condensation on a glass, glass blocks, frosted windows, or, like my friend Beth did, with objects in soda water! The photo below is of a glass paper weight with bubbles inside that I left in the window sill.

You can use anything as a light source. Be creative! Think of watches illuminated in the dark, a magnifying glass with a light on it, the glow of a computer, candles, lit gas from the stove, anything from the window sill, light breaking through leaves, reflections--you can use it all!

In the photo below, I used a simple bulb on a line (from Ikea, meant for lanterns) in the bathroom with all the lights off. I actually composed this self portrait for a photography class to show that the photographer is the master of light.

Fog is also great for lighting because it helps spread light more evenly. It also creates these amazing halos when a direct light source is in the fog and it can sometimes make it's own vignette when done properly like the example below.

Always keep your eye open for the temperature of different lights. This one below is rather warm where as the first photo in this post is quite cool. In general, blue tones equal cool, yellow tones equal warm. Warm lights can make photos feel more intimate and often leave the viewer feeling like they are a part of the moment. It's also good for conveying warm emotions like happiness and love.

One tool you most definitely need is a tripod. I would put this before a flash every time. If you're going to do photos in dark places, it's essential. Camera shake from your hands can be a real problem as it makes your images a bit blurry. Sometimes you can substitute a great flat surface like a table or balance on a railing (if the shutter isn't too long) but nothing can substitute a good tripod. And yes, I mean a good one. Don't buy a cheap one. I did and the legs are always slipping during photos. The one below was taken in a cave with a long exposure (I think it was 30 seconds) on a tripod. I think I bumped it though which made it a little blurry and unfortunately, I didn't see it until I got home.

And for my last trick... Use something to block the sun if the light is too strong and too direct. Here I used the structure to partially cover the sun because 1. a fully covered sun left everything too dark, 2. a fully exposed sun make everything too bright, and 3. a half sun left neat little sun rays peaking over the edge of the wall.

Really, light is your friend. Everything in photography has to do with light and finding ways to control it naturally (changing positions, holding something up, etc) or artificially (aperture, ISO and shutter speeds) will dramatically improve your photos. Remember to always find your light and use that source to your advantage!

My next post will be on composition and how to make your photos stand out amongst everyone else's!