Van Niekerk - Direction & quality of light: your key to better portrait photography anywhere

Copyright 2013 by Neil van Niekerk.

All rights reserved.

All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Published by:

Amherst Media, Inc.

P.O. Box 586

Buffalo, N.Y. 14226

Fax: 716-874-4508

www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins

Assistant Editor: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt

Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder

Business Manager: Adam Richards

Marketing, Sales, and Promotion Manager: Kate Neaverth

Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo

ISBN-13: 978-1-60895-571-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920986

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The authors and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BY TODD LAFFLER

T he latest and greatest camera bodies, the highest ISOs, the widest apertures, the most megapixelsnone of these things amount to a hill of beans if you are not harnessing the single most important aspect of photography: light. After all, the word photography itself literally means writing with light. Whether its existing light, light you generate yourself, or a combination of the two, if you dont understand how to effectively use light to best suit your subject or creative goal, you are merely shooting in the dark!

THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF GEAR ALREADY RESIDES INSIDE YOUR HEAD; ITS YOUR BRAIN.

Actually, shooting in the dark is not a bad place to start. I remember taking a drawing class in art school where we laid down a dark layer of charcoal onto a white piece of paper until it was completely covered. Then we used an eraser to draw with, pulling out the lighter areas of the subject. Sometimes I try to approach photography in this same way; I start with black, or as little light as possible, then add only the direction and quality of light I need to achieve my desired effect. Ironically, a successful result is sometimes dependent on what you dont light.

What you are holding in your hands right now is, in my opinion, much more valuable than any piece of hardware you could ever buy. Mindlessly throwing money into purchasing gear in the hopes that the next big thing will make you a better photographer is simply frivolous. The most important piece of gear already resides inside your head; its your brain. Arming your mind with practical information about both the direction and quality of light will, I believe, advance your photography tenfold.

I applaud you for tackling this often perplexing yet always crucial element of photography. You will be rewarded with a new sense of confidence and empowerment once you are able to understand light on a deeper level. Dont be afraid of the light. Walk toward it, shape it, embrace it, and make it do your biddingnot the other way around!

I was asked the following question in an interview: Is there one simple thing you can tell us that would improve our flash photography instantly if we were to do it? My answer came from a simple realization that took me years to really grasp: it is all about the direction and the quality of the light. Whether you use natural light, on-camera flash, off-camera flash, multiple-light setups, or video light, it all comes down to exactly that: the direction and the quality of the light. Once you recognize this aspect of photography and lighting, then the door is wide open for you to be able to comfortably use any light source.

LIGHTING IN PHOTOGRAPHY IS ALL ABOUT THE DIRECTION AND THE QUALITY OF THE LIGHT.

This book was originally intended to be about multiple off-camera flash. It just seemed like the natural progression from my previous two books, which first covered on-camera flash, then off-camera flash. However, when I started collecting material, I paused on a question: why do we need multiple off-camera flashguns? Its not just to show off how cool we are at juggling the light from multiple sources (although it is quite something to set up a bunch of lights). The real reason we use multiple lights is to solve some kind of lighting problem that we couldnt fix with only a single light or simply by moving the subject into different light.

The extension of that idea led to the theme of this book: problem-solving when we have a difficult lighting scenario, or improving a scenario that is perhaps a touch too bland. However, the problem-solving technique doesnt necessarily rely on multiple flashguns. The technique may be as simple as refining the subjects pose or guiding the subject toward more flattering light. Alternately, we could add on-camera flash, or use off-camera flash, or progress to using multiple light sources.

This brings us right back to my opening comment. Lighting in photography is all about the direction and the quality of the light.

As creative and inquisitive photographers, we should not stop at just one specific approach. Its more fun and more of a challenge to try various ways of using light. This journey we are on as photographers becomes an engaging adventure if were constantly learning and mastering new techniques.

So here we are. Lets have fun!

The overall theme of this book is problem-solving and the thought process behind improving our results in various situations. As such, the techniques are presented in a straight-forward manner. The approach here is not to dazzle you with a mastery of complicated lighting setups, but rather to help you develop a skill-set that is usable in many different scenarios. We adapt.