Light is the foundation of photography, but one of the most elusive elements to feel comfortable with and predict. “Light is everything to a photo — it sculpts the mood, depth and texture in every image, and really understanding how to use it well takes “meh” shots to compelling visual stories,” she says. Photographers who develop a feel for light can anticipate how it responds to various surfaces, day parts and weather circumstances — qualities that give their images purpose and sensuality. It is a skill, but not only technological – it affects artistic decisions about composition, color balance and the emotional impact of an image.
Natural light is a gift to photographers, like no other. Watching the shifting angles of the sun throughout the day presents opportunities to shed new light and create warmth, contrast, and shadow in unique ways. “Golden hours,” those hours just after sunrise and before sunset, have softer directional lighting that accentuates textures and gives a sense of depth. For these photographers (and ‘natural lighters’ in general), it’s all about on-the-fly adaptation as the weather and conditions will force them to recognize potential changes, allowing you to be creative during those pivotal moments. Learn to control and filter light skillfully, and you will be able to make dramatic shots without the need of unnatural lighting equipment.
Artificial light however is consistent and can provide creative solutions. Studio lighting, strobes and LED panels grant photographers full control over intensity, direction and color temperature of the desired scene. By learning how to balance artificial light with ambient light you can also explore some new territory, and create images that are realistic or stylized. Strong commercial work also leads to stronger storytelling, as it can enable a specific shaping of shadows and highlights in order to focus on the emotional and psychological subtext of your subjects. By simply learning lighting strategies a photographer gains tools that can be applied in any number of photographic areas, from portraits to product photography.
Light is both a technical issue and a narrative ploy. Photographers employ it for its ability to direct the viewer’s gaze, indicate intimacy and communicate atmosphere. Dramatic, forceful directional light for drama — soft edge backlit mystery and subtle glancing diffused loft to show subtlety. Photographers who actively fiddle with the position and strength of light learn to use image-making as a communication device (as opposed to just counting on some post-processing). This creates confidence and a recognizable imagery that plays well to people, while improving the personal touch of artistic expressiveness.
In the end, learning to control light is about looking, testing and thinking. Photographers have an eye not just for how light rests upon a subject but for the way it refigures a scene’s emotional valence. By repetition, they internalize concepts of exposure, contrast and shadow and know them to a point that it’s no longer about making decisions off technical knowledge – it is now second nature. When light becomes a complement to their creative expression, photographers can create work that is consistently compelling and complex, raising it from mere documentation to real visual storytelling.