Lighting is the backbone of any great photograph. It’s not just about having enough light; it’s about mastering how light interacts with your subject and background.
Coming to you from Mark Behrens and Steve Batz with Westcott LightingThis insightful video breaks down the core elements of flash photography. It highlights three core reasons to use flash: it adds color, improves contrast, and enhances sharpness. These are important when you want your images to stand out, especially in less-than-ideal lighting situations. Flash gives you control over the light source, allowing you to fine-tune the mood and texture of your photos. For example, sharper images are possible because flash allows you to use faster shutter speeds, reducing motion blur and making your photos sharper.
The video also covers the five key components of flash photography, such as shutter speed and its relationship to ambient light. Shutter speed determines how long your camera sensor is exposed to light, but it is not the primary factor in controlling the exposure of your subject when using flash. Instead, it is all about balancing the ambient light with the flash to achieve the desired look. The video explains how different shutter speeds can brighten or darken your background, regardless of the exposure of your subject, giving you more creative control.
The video then covers other important components like ISO, aperture, flash power, and flash-to-subject distance. Each of these elements gives you additional tools to adjust your lighting setup. For example, increasing the ISO can brighten both your subject and background, and modern cameras handle high ISO settings with minimal noise, so don’t be afraid to adjust as needed. Flash power, on the other hand, directly affects the intensity of the light hitting your subject, and adjusting the distance between the flash and the subject can dramatically change the quality and intensity of the light. These adjustments allow you to fine-tune your lighting without changing your camera settings, allowing for flexibility and precision. Watch the video above for a full rundown from Behrens and Batz.
If you want to continue learning about portrait lighting, be sure to check out “Face Lighting: Lighting for Portraits and Headshots With Peter Hurley!”
