This is a guest post by Dani D. Her information is at the bottom of the post.

Hi again! Way back in February, I started a series of guest posts with tips for taking photos of your artwork. We talked about composition and telling the story, with basic tips about taking digital photographs of your textile art. It took a little longer than I expected, but I’m here to continue the series today with a key element – perhaps THE key element – in taking successful photographs. Let’s talk about light.

Light has many characteristics: the direction from which it comes, its intensity, whether it is harsh or diffuse, and its temperature will all affect how your subject looks in the photo. In this post, we’ll look at how to use available light to make flattering photos, and a few DIY hacks you can use to play with light in your photography. You’ll see that for these example photos, I’ve used samples from my summer project, weaving on rocks. It’s been fun experimenting with it.

Lighting conditions can affect colour, shadow and which details the eye is drawn to

 

Learn to evaluate the light by noticing whether it is harsh or diffuse. Harsh light occurs when the photo subject is directly in front of the light source, like when you point a bare bulb at something or place it in direct sunlight. It makes deep, dark shadows and can wash out colour. Diffuse light happens in the shade, or near a bright window but out of the direct sun. Diffuse light is often more flattering because the contrast – the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of the photo – is reduced. Diffuse light often makes for richer, more saturated colour.

What is ambient light?

In this post, I talk a lot about ambient light. Ambient light is the light that’s already in the room, whether from electric room lights, or a window, or outside. You don’t need any fancy equipment to take well-lit photographs, as long as you learn to read and manipulate the existing light. Play with lots of different light sources to see how they affect your photo: use a lamp, move closer to the window, or move outside.

Before we talk about how to use the light, we must first ensure that there is enough light. If your light is too dim, you risk a blurry photo. Your camera / smartphone will keep the shutter open until it decides enough light has hit the sensor, but if you move even a tiny bit while the shutter is open, you will have movement blur in your photo. Or, your smartphone will try to compensate for the lack of light by raising the ISO, and a byproduct of this is a photo with a lot of noise or grain (see photos below). Ideally, always aim for the most crisp, well-lit photo you can make with no blur and no noise.

Tip #1: if you’re having trouble finding enough light indoors, try finding a spot to take your photo outside, in the shade or on a cloudy day. Or move right beside a window out of direct sunlight. The difference in ambient light indoors and outdoors is huge, though we often don’t notice it because our eyes have a much larger dynamic range than most cameras do. Photos taken outside in the shade or on a cloudy day usually have even, diffuse light. However, you may prefer the brightness of direct sunlight. Just make your choices thoughtfully.

When composing a photo, try varying how and where the light falls on your subject to see how it changes the story. What do you want people to notice in your photo? Harsh, contrasty light will emphasize texture and shape, where more even and diffuse light will emphasize colour and subtle designs.

Light and shadow

With light comes shadow. Shadow is good: it grounds your subject, gives it texture and helps you tell your story. However, deep contrasty shadows can be a distraction, especially when they flare out behind your subject on a plain background. To minimize harsh shadows, try to diffuse your light. You diffuse light by scattering the photons, making them approach your subject from many angles instead of just the most direct one. I’ve used everything from a piece of opaque shower curtain or sheer curtain to simply putting my hand in between a bare bulb and a subject to diffuse the light and reduce harsh shadows.

Tip #2: turn off your smartphone’s flash. The flash on your phone and the one permanently attached to even the most high-end cameras, is usually harsh and flat. It’s the difference between applying paint with a brush (using ambient light) and using a bucket to throw paint on a canvas (using the onboard flash).

In an earlier post, Jan talked about setting up a lightbox. A lightbox will isolate your product or item against a white background while bathing it in diffuse light, and they’re ideal for smaller projects but not very practical for larger ones. However, you can apply the same principles by bouncing the light onto your subject instead of lighting it directly. Bounced light is also diffuse. You can bounce light onto a subject by aiming the harsh light to a light-reflective surface. You just need to tinker with the angles a bit to get it right. A piece of white typing paper or cardstock will work, and you can line one side with aluminum foil for a different effect. I have a four-in-one photography reflector that has a gold side (harshest light bounce), a silver side (moderate light bounce), an opaque white side (gentle light bounce) and a scrim (used to filter instead of bounce light). Play with different materials to see how they change the way the light hits your subject.

Tip #3: if you do want to invest a few dollars in a tool to improve your lighting, I really like those selfie ring lights that you can see in the lightbox photo above. The light is even and diffuse, and they usually have a range of both intensity and colour temperature. They’re also great for lighting how-to videos. Try to get your light as close to the subject as possible while still being out of the frame of your photo, as the closer the light is to the subject, the more diffuse and flattering the light.

So far in this series, we’ve talked about composition and light. They are by far the two most important principles in making attractive, effective photographs. Master these and you will elevate your photography to the next level. If you’d like to delve into a slightly more technical aspect of photography and lighting, my next and last post will be about colour temperature and white balance. Watch this space!

Dani Donders is a photographer, textile explorer, tarot reader, rock and sea glass collector, workshop leader, and Curious Crone. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.