ABSTRACT
Light has four qualities that dramatically affect how one photograph and what the final image looks like. These qualities are intensity, direction, color, and contrast. This chapter explores these factors individually to see how each of them affects the photograph. It highlights several key strategies for photographing in dim light. Light direction is a critically important variable that always must be considered when we choose the shooting angle. The five major light directions are frontlight, backlight, sidelight, top light, and diffused light. The chapter explores what these are and considers when they are helpful or detrimental to one’s own images. The color of light varies considerably so digital cameras provide a way to adjust color to make it more suitable for the subject to produce more pleasing images. Cameras offer a number of color presets and a few variable color controls. Be aware a preset choice corrects the light by a fixed amount.
