Tip 4 - Find your flat even light
Great photographers are masters of light. There are many sources of light, eg. natural light - sun light, moon light, or artificial light - tungsten light, florescent light, flash light, studio light etc.
As a beginner or amateur, your best friend is natural light. Why? Because it’s free.
Example - majority of the photo is in the shade
An easy rule of thumb is to find even, or flat light, especially if you have a beginner, non-full-frame DSLR camera. Make sure your entire image, or the majority of your image, is covered by similar light condition. Either everything is in the sun, or in the shade.
Example - majority of the photo is in the sun
This is particularly useful when you are traveling outdoors. Put your main subject in the sun if majority of your background is in the sun. Similarly, put your main subject in the shade if majority of the background is in the shade.
Professional photographers often take light (to add light) or reflector (to block light) in order to create an even light condition. But as travelers, you obviously wouldn’t bring these. So you have to find the right angle to get the light to work for you.
If the right angle doesn’t give you the right composition, then you’ll have to find the right time to get the right light. Professional portrait photographers often photograph people during golden hours - eg. 30-60 minutes after sunrise or before sunset (this time range changes significantly depending on the season, or your location on the earth, which is a different topic). Why? Because light is softer and you’ll more likely get the right exposure of your image, which avoids unnecessary blowouts or shadows on your main subject.
Below is a video that explained histogram and exposure compensation, two important tools you can use to get the right exposure.
Even I shot the video in the context of landscape photography, histogram and exposure compensation are two vital tools for any types of photography, no matter if you photograph people or places.
Last but not least, if harsh contrast is what you are aiming for, absolutely go for it. Just be careful and have a solid understanding of what your camera is capable of, especially its dynamic range, or you might end up an overexposed or underexposed image that you can’t recover.
Go back to Natural Light Chapter
