Photographic Lighting
Photographic lighting courses available through ACS Distance Education. Click here for more information, or click here to enrol.
Managing Light
A sample from the ACS Photographic Light course...
Management of lighting is an essential skill in photography. To manage light properly requires planning a photograph before it is taken. You need to consider how you want subject matter of the photograph lit.
1st Consider all the components of the photograph
- What is the focal point, or main thing that you want people to see? This might be a face, or perhaps just part of a face; or perhaps a building or part of a building.
- There will be other components in any photo, even if no more than a dark background.
2nd Consider how you want the various components lit.
- The intensity, colour and direction of light hitting various components may create shadows, and make some parts of the image stand out more or less than what they perhaps do in real life. In this way, by managing the light, the photographer can have a strong influence upon the image that is created.
- Stronger light will obviously make the focal point more prominent
3rd Decide on your light sources
- If using natural light, you can manipulate the light source by choosing to photograph at different times of day; or by using things to block or reflect the natural light (eg. A cover of trees, moveable screens, mirrors, reflective surfaces like metal or water)
-If using artificial light, you can choose the colour, intensity and positioning of any light source.
Distance Education Course with ACS
PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHTING- BPH204
- Duration: 100 Hours (you study at your own pace).
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- COURSE STRUCTURE
- There are eight lessons in this module as follows:
- 1.Light Characteristics and Lighting Concepts
- 2.Light Sources – continuous & flash
- 3.Meters & Filters
- 4.Other Equipment for Lighting
- 5.Contrast & Composition
- 6.The Zone System
- 7.Studio Lighting
- 8.On-Location Lighting
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- COURSE AIMS
- Discuss the scope and nature of lighting as relevant to photography.
- Describe how different light sources will affect different images in varying ways.
- Describe how different filters can be used to create different lighting effects.
- Identify the differences between different types of light meters.
- Describe the range of equipment which can be used to help achieve more desirable light conditions for photography.
- Explain contrast and how to compensate for imperfect light conditions.
- Explain how to use tone to create the desired final image.
- Distinguish between utilisation of light in a studio and on location.
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- WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
- This course involves far more than just reading and answering questions.
- Here are just some examples of other things you may find yourself doing:
- - Investigating different film types with respect to suitability for different light conditions
- -Setting up and using a “Computation Folder”
- -Shooting film of different subjects under a variety of light conditions
- -Applying the zone system to different situations
- -Analysing the lighting effects in various photos
- -Researching the characteristics of different types of equipment
Click here to enrol
Books about Photographic Lighting available at the ACS Bookshop.
