6. Working with Light

Photography, like all forms of visual art, uses light to create shape and form. But, unlike artists who create drawings and paintings, photographers have less control over the direction, quality, and effects of light. Some artists may paint from life and may prefer to choose a setting like the portraitists’ legendary “northlight studio,” but others are free to paint from their imaginations, and maintain absolute control over the attributes of the illumination that fills their canvases.

For the photographer, even awesome Photoshop skills won’t be able to fix an image captured under poor, difficult, or unflattering lighting conditions. Photographers need to learn how to use the qualities of light to shape their pictures, and how to adapt and modify the light that’s available to achieve the image they are trying to capture.