Capture Artful Moments With Your iPhone | Day 3 of 10


Photography is all about light. It’s the essence of an image. To make beautiful artful images, you need to learn to see and understand how to use and capture light. Notice where the light falls on your subject. For example, is the main light source coming from the front, side, or back of the scene? What type of light is it?

Three main categories of light include: natural light (from the sun, moon, and stars), artificial light (including household bulbs, studio lights, fluorescent office lights, street lights, neon signs, LED, and flash), and a combination of the two. Is the light hard (unfiltered, high contrast, midday light) or soft (filtered, low contrast, shaded light)?

Before you photograph a scene, study the light. Walk around your subject. How does the scene change with the angle of light? 

For these two exercises, make sure your flash is turned off. Remember to tap on your subject to lock in exposure.

For outdoor portraits, position your subject at the edge of shaded areas so they have a nice soft light falling on their face.

For indoor scenes with darker areas, move your subject as close to the light source as possible (such as a lamp or window).

Capture your subject using different types and directions of light. Keep practicing this and see how using light this way changes your photographs. 

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