Easy To Do Photography Lighting Tips

In this current time period of digital cameras, you probably think all you need to do is point and click to take great photos.Hold on, don’t go so fast.The honest truth is, you may have a great digital camera, but if you are clueless in what to do, you will take ugly shots.

Well, I would like to share with you some great tips on improving your digital photography skills.  These tips are coming from years of experience as a San Diego wedding photographer.These tips are about using lighting and they will be some of the best advice and keys to your success in taking great photos.

First tip in lighting.Now if the shots you will take are going to be outdoors during the day, the natural sunlight will be some of the best lighting possible.  Now you are probably thinking, “that’s easy, when you are a San Diego photographer since it is always shiny there”, when in actuality really bright sunlight can cast harsh shadows.Or it could blur the details of faces when the sun is overhead.

Overall, what you will want to do is to have the sun behind you when you take most of the shots.This stops any harsh shadows in your photo caused by the sun.  But there will be some instances when you want to try different angles when you are trying to get some shadows into the shots.

Now that we know what to do during the day shots, what if you have to take some night shots? 

The key technique for night photos is actually turning off your flash.Of course if it is absolutely dark with no light you wil need it, but for times when there is some lighting, use the lighting around you, but make sure the shutter speeds are slow enough to let light in.  Also you want to stay steady when taking the shot or you will blur the photos.Applying these couple of techniques will make a dramatic difference for those nights shots you take. 

The final piece of advice to use for lighting is using the golden hour to capture great shots.Now there is a time that photographers refer to as the “golden hour” or “magic hour”, and that is during sunrise and sunset.

During these times of the day you will capture great shots that allow you to capture more warmer and inviting colors.You’ll be able to get that golden lighting that isn’t available during any other time of day.

There you go.Probably the biggest tip in taking beautiful photos is to make use of the natural lighting around you.  Knowing what techniques to use for different parts of the day, or just scheduling a photo shoots to capture those times of day will help you become an excellent photographer.