Syl Arena - Lighting for Digital Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

From Snapshots to Great Shots

Syl Arena

Lighting for Digital Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots
Syl Arena

Peachpit Press
www.peachpit.com

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Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education

Copyright 2013 by Syl Arena

All photography Syl Arena except where noted

Editor: Ted Waitt
Production Editor: Lisa Brazieal
Interior Design: Riezebos Holzbaur Design Group
Compositor: WolfsonDesign
Indexer: James Minkin
Proofreader: Stephanie Provines
Cover Design: Aren Straiger
Cover Image: Syl Arena
Cover Image Color Production Specialist: Marco Ugolini
Back Cover Author Photo: Vera Franceschi

Notice of Rights

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks

All Canon products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Canon Inc. All Nikon products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nikon and/or Nikon Corporation.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN-13 978-0-321-83275-7
ISBN-10 0-321-83275-2

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

For Amy, the proverbial girl-across-the-street.

No book is written or photographed in a vacuumespecially this one. Thanks are owed to many.

First, to Amy and our three lads, Tom, Vin, and Tonyheartfelt thanks for accommodating my uncountable requests for you to serve as impromptu models, grips, fixers, etc. You may not have felt like you had a choice every time I asked, but you did.

Sincere thanks are also owed to my many friends at Maine Media Workshops. Most of the second half of this book was written and shot during my extended stay in Rockport. Thank you for providing a beautiful house in which to write, a studio in which to shoot, and lobster dinner every Friday night. Without the support of MMW, I likely would still be finishing .

Teaching is a privilege and an invaluable opportunity to learn from those I teach. So, thanks are owed to the workshop programs that invited me to teach during the past yearMaine Media, Santa Fe, and Gulf Photo Plus in Dubaias well as to the amazing team at B&H Photo, who let me teach in their NYC Event Space every time I asked.

Thanks are also owed to every student Ive met in a workshop, seminar, or random meet-up, as well as to those who got in touch after watching me on Kelby Training or listening to me on This Week in Photo. Your questions and comments formed the foundation on which this book was written.

Finally, every word in this book was first read, considered, and sometimes polished by my editorTed Waitt. Despite my affection for the sounds that deadlines make as they go whizzing by, Ted patiently coaxed me along as the vision for this book came into sharp focus. So thanks, Ted, for shepherding me through the creation of Lighting for Digital Photography.

Syl Arena

Paso Robles, California
October, 2012

Allow yourself to become obsessed with light. This is the best advice that I can give any photographer. Many shooters are more concerned with learning buttons, dials, and software than with learning to truly see light. Yet, if you become a connoisseur of light, youll see opportunities for great shots that you did not see before. Youll also recognize when theres no pizzazz to the light and, most likely, you will not make so many disappointing images.

Photography is writing with light. So, lets build our conversation about lighting on five fundamental characteristics of light: Direction, Intensity, Color, Contrast, and Hardness.

Shooting in bright sun can be a challenge for your camera because of the extreme range between highlight and shadow. In this shot, using a bit of fill flash would have helped reveal details in the shadows. Still, I love this snapshot of my son Tony at Crater Lake, Oregon. Remember, it is better to get a less-than-perfect shot than to miss it because you were grabbing another piece of gear.

My mantra about lighting is this: To create interesting light, you have to create interesting shadows. So look at the light and think about the shadows. In this shot of a lacquered ball, the shadows tell you everything about the lighting: the number of lights, their locations, and their size relative to the subject.

The best photographers in any genre are the ones who are obsessed with light. I hope that you will join their ranksboth in terms of skill and in terms of how you look at light. To start you down the path, I encourage you to study the light around you throughout each day.

Here is a sample of observations about light Ive made in a single day:

In the morning, as Im waking up, I study the color of a patch of golden sunlight on the wall of my bedroom.

At breakfast, I examine the shape of the shadows around my coffee cup and solve the riddle, Why are there three shadows?