Let there be light
Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light, a quote by which almost every emo newbie photographer swears by, till they graduate to a level when they have to worry about all the three..
Coming to which it cannot be gainsaid that light is almost one of the most powerful factors which determines the quality of any photograph, light natural or artificial.Photographically speaking light is the lifeline of an image, with even the most advanced DSLRs requiring atleast a minimal amount of lighting to take a photo.
Before we proceed lets have a look into what lighting has to offer over camera equipment or money for the matter.
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The above Image has been taken by me in 2007/08 using a 2megapixels mobile camera (Loc : Pondicherry ,India).
Form the above image u can see light transforms something which might otherwise look very ‘amateur’..
But then we can’t just get light willy nilly, hence we have to use camera functions to compensate for loss in ‘ideal lighting’..Now how does a camera decide what ‘light’ it needs to take a photo, generally it uses the ‘shutter’ function and increases its delay, or in simple sanskrit, it increases the time for which the shutter remains open to let adequate amount of light seep in to freeze the exposure. But then we get all those blurry images (for most photographers don’t carry a tripod 24×7). Hence we need to take the help of the ISO function, which is most under-understood by amateur photography people. Ideally a cheapo camera has the capability to deliver good images at the lowest (starting) ISO – 50/100/200 at a ‘non shake shutter speed (ideally 1/40secs range- a speed at which camera shake doesn’t matter) beyond which the image gets grainy. But even with the best of DSLRs, the highest ISO u can pump an image without killing it is around 12800. So we need to go for aperture size, a bigger aperture lets more light inside naturally, letting images to be taken under serious low lighting at good shutter speeds and somewhat high ISO..
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The above image displays a fine mix of a High ISO, High Shutter Speed and a Huge Aperture. (Loc: Mumbai,India)
Another image portraying a fine mix of ISO,Shutter Delay & Aperture. (Loc: Rome,Italy)
Now lets observe how a same place looks under different lighting conditions. Below is a series of 3 images taken under 3 different lighting conditions.Images taken in Kolkata, India.
1. Above the Bridge
2) Below the Bridge
3) Under the Water
4) Complementary image to explain ‘using exposure to render beauty’
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Lets have another pictorial example of the same from another part of the world. Images from Florence, Italy.
1) Early Morning
2) Early Evening
3) Early Dusk
4) Complementary image to explain ‘using exposure to render beauty’
Hence from the above study we can see how a mix of light , equipment and ofcourse money is essential to render a beautiful image, light being the most important followed by money to get the equipment and pay for the ‘free lunches’…
And yes its the Friday of the year, first of December so I leave u guys with some Season’s Greetings.. Have a Great Life People..!! =)
Concept, Research & Image copyright : Marcus Sam
Marcus Sam 