Shooting in Available Light
Light is perhaps the most important component in our images. Composition, subject matter, colour and tone are all important, but there can be no photography without light. Using the light we are offered in any situation is often the key to the success of the image. Shelton Muller explains…
There is no doubt about it. There are few photographers who can live without owning a flashgun. However, as we probably all seen, flash adds an almost unpredictable element in our photographs that removes the ambience of the scene as we see it, and possibly the very reason we were urged to create the picture on the first place. However, the other side of that coin is shooting without flash. For many this is daunting, but it really isn’t that difficult and will often mean the difference between cold, flash illuminated images and those with a more genuine ‘how-you-saw-it’ feel. Available light photography is often more evocative than flash illuminated pictures, and is often more fitting to the subject.
Film and Digital
Possibly the first place to start is our capture media, whether it is film or digital. Naturally, the faster the film or the higher the rating of the ISO setting on our digital camera, the more possible available light images become. The potentially negative side of this is that the grain that is inherent in high-speed film and the noise that becomes more evident in digital images. However, because this has always been the case, grain has become a natural and expected component of these kinds of images, and is therefore something to which most people have become accustomed. In fact, it has become an artistic feature of available light images to the degree that it is sometimes exaggerated in the darkroom or digitally simulated in the computer when images do not exhibit enough grain!
Then there is the issue of colour temperature. Most film is daylight balanced, meaning that under artificial lights it shifts in colour balance. You may have seen your colour prints warm up under the influence of tungsten lights. Tungsten lighting can be corrected by using tungsten balanced film or a blue filter such as an 80 A, B or C. Fluorescent lighting can be corrected using an FL –D filter for general purpose fluorescent lighting or FL W filter for warm white or white fluorescent tubes. The other option is, of course, black and white film and emulsions such as Kodak’s T400CN are excellent for this kind of photography, being very forgiving in exposure and easy to process and print at your local lab.
Digital is a different ball game here. Digital cameras will either automatically balance the colour, or will allow the photographer to select the white balance setting manually for daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, window light and more.
Tripod
For much of your available light work, a tripod will be necessary. Not always, but sometimes. This is especially true of images that require seconds, minutes, or even hours of exposure. To ensure sharpness, your tripod cannot move or be easily shaken during the exposure.
Lenses
If available light photography is going to be your thing, it would be advisable to start collecting a range of faster lenses. The medium range zoom lenses that come with cameras these days are often too slow, sometimes with apertures of f4.5 or even smaller. Once upon a time, a 35mm SLR was packaged with a 50mm f1.8 lens, a combination of focal length and f-stop that is often perfect for available light photography. Press photographers have other favourites too, which usually include wide-angle lenses with maximum apertures of f1.8 or even faster!
For portraits and other kinds of photography in which available light will be used and longer lenses are required, there are some superb lenses that are quite common. Focal lengths of 135mm are often found with f2.8 apertures or faster. More specific lenses, like 85mm f1.8 and f1.4 are also available, but naturally at a cost. When using lenses with this kind of aperture, be sure to focus precisely, knowing that you have little depth of field to forgive you.
Metering.
However, it is not always the speed of the lens that is the greatest need. Usually, successful available light photography is more dependent upon correct metering. This is especially so in the case of stage and performance photography, in which correct metering is vital. Backlighting – and large unlit areas behind the performer – fool the camera’s average metering system, making it provide an exposure reading as if the stage is actually very dark. However, the light that illuminates the performer is often very bright. As the old song says, ‘black is black’, and so it is irrelevant how dark you allow the area behind the performer to be in your images. If you allow the meter in your camera to include this area in its calculations you will find that the faces of your performers are overexposed and lack detail because of the strong frontal lighting and heavy contrast. If your camera has a centre-weighted or spot metering facility, you can utilise this very effectively to meter for the face of the main performer, who is often spot lit and stands out in stark contrast to fellow performers and/or backing musicians.
The same is often true of other available light situations. Indoor portraits are often possible with window light, provided that the photographer meters for the face and skin tones, and not the background. The same is true of environmental portraits and even night photography. Where a subject is illuminated, often the area illuminated is bright enough for available light photography.
Ensure that you are metering correctly, perhaps exposing for the highlights.
You will find that you can actually become less reliant upon your flash than you may think possible. This revelation will mean an entirely new learning curve for you, and a serious move forward in your image making.
Shelton Muller can be contacted at shelton@total-image.com.au
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September 24th, 2008
thx 4 this simple tutorial..help me to learn more…