The following tips come from Orange County photographer Carol Bridges who states that lighting can make or break a photo shoot no matter whether the photo shoot is amateur in nature or professional.
- While professional photographers use professional lighting the type of lighting employed by these people is rather expensive. Fortunately for the layperson there is a cheap and affordable yet high-quality alternative. Halogen work lights are not only widely available and affordable but also serve as adequate lighting for just about any type of photo shoot an amateur may partake in. If you find yourself in a pinch you can also use high watt incandescent lights as well. While these kinds of lights work great for amateur photo shoots and are affordable. There are some lights you should stay away from however. Fluorescent lighting will require a great deal of color correction during the development process and can drastically reduce the quality of pictures. Tinted lights should also be avoided unless you plan on photographing weird scenes or strange special effects.
- In regards to setting up lighting for an amateur photo shoot, the process is actually quite simple. Temporary lighting can be set up or constructed on a filing cabinet, floor, or even a small table. You also want to remember that too little lighting even if used purposefully to create a specific mood for photographs can result in poor images that are not correctable even in photo editing software. Amateur photographers should also keep in mind that using too much lighting can lead to overexposure and the bleeding out of colors. These things too are often unrepairable in modern photo editing software. The setup of lighting needn't be a time consuming or difficult process and if it is for you, you may be doing too much or trying too hard. Just make sure that there is ample backlighting as well as foreground lighting and you should have no problems capturing great images.
- Amateur photographers will also want to keep in mind that more often than not lighting from an angle works better than lighting directly behind or in front of whatever it is or whomever they're photographing. Lighting from an angle works much better because it does quite a bit to minimize shadows. While setting up your lighting move lights until the object your photographing looks great in the camera's viewfinder. If shadows are what you're after however use just one light.
Carol Bridges
32002 Lomita Dr.
Trabuco Canyon, CA 92679
949.589.5311
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