Tips On How To Make Better Light And Shadow Photography

Light and Shadow Photography is a group of subjects for which you need good weather outdoors. The search for shade is particularly successful in the early morning and evening, but you can also find shade at lunchtime in summer, which is very hard due to the high position of the sun.

( Photographing light and shadow - street photography, Sony DSC RX100iii, Zeiss f / 1.8-2.8 24-70 mm, 56 mm KB, 1 / 500s, f / 4, ISO 125)

Light and Shadow Photography

Let's get with our Tips On How To Make Better Light And Shadow Photography shall we?

When it comes to light and shadow photography , you have to make do with the available light. Light is a condition for an image. When the light falls through fog or through the canopy of leaves in a forest, the result is a particularly beautiful play of light.

You will find ideal conditions at the fog line in autumn or winter. The fog keeps rising and falling. It's worth getting your camera ready and being patient. Make sure that the brightest areas are not eaten away - avoid clipping . Use the camera's histogram to check your results .

Shadows as motifs

-Where there is light, there is also shadow. When it comes to shadows photography, depending on the lighting conditions, you will find more or less strong shadows that are suitable as a picture motif.

-Especially in the morning and evening hours you will find very special shadow games: when the sun falls flat on the earth and produces long shadows in the grazing light. This usually leads to the problem that the dynamic range of the subject is very large and can hardly be mastered by the camera. The dynamic range is the number of f-stops between the darkest and lightest areas of the picture. Especially the golden hour with its warm colors and long, dynamic and soft shadows is very attractive.

-The winter months have the advantage that the sun is very low even during the day and casts beautiful, long shadows.

-I like walking through a neighborhood at the edge of the day. Pay attention to the different shadow sculptures that are cast on the floors and facades!

-Wait for a person's shadow to appear in your chosen area, then press the trigger.

-Pictures with shadows are particularly suitable as black and white photographs , especially because of the high contrast .

Subjects with their shadows

-If you take photos on the subject of light and shadow, then watch out for small motifs in side light. If you photograph a subject with its shadow, the contour of the object is repeated or it is driven to the extreme by inclined light. Here, too, you will find great motifs in a settlement in the marginal hours. The shadow makes an image look more three-dimensional. Both examples would not work on an overcast sky.

I took the picture with an elegant compact in RAW format and shows that even a small camera  can deliver great image quality and a relatively small depth of field .

Weak light and shadow Photography

Another option is to take photos indoors or in the dark. Usually the light then comes from artificial light sources. In order for the pictures to succeed, you need a tripod or you can place your camera on a stable surface. If you work with a fast lens, you can also increase the sensitivity of the sensor ( ISO value ). The next picture is an outside shot in low light with a high ISO value of 3200.

Tips - Light and Shadow Photography

-Keep an eye on the histogram . In this way, you can see whether the darkest and lightest parts of the image are still marked. If neither is possible, choose the important part of the picture.

-If possible, shoot in RAW format . The digital negatives give you much more leeway in editing and correcting the image.

-If you are traveling with a prime lens, pay much more attention to the composition and the right perspective. This trains your photographic eye .

-Take your time to choose your motif. Better to come home with twelve good photos than with 300 go-so shots that you will delete later anyway.

-A low position of the sun creates large shadows. You can find these in the morning and evening hours or in the colder season.

-Visit your motifs at different times of the day or be patient. The shadows change very quickly - especially in the morning and evening hours.

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