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Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
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Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Features

12 Ways to Make the Most of Lighting For Your Photos

Chris Gampat
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12/22/2014
2 Mins read

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Manual Camera and Triggertrap (5 of 5)ISO 4001-40 sec at f - 2.2

There are many, many hacks that you can do with lighting to deliver a better image without spending hundreds of dollars to change the shape of the lighting. It has to do with thinking smarter about the light and knowing how RAW files work in post-production. Even if you’re not working with a flash, there are ways to make natural and ambient light help your subject look more attractive to most pairs of eyes.

Here are a number of ways without breaking the bank at all.

Use Shadows When Outside to Have Better Control Over Your Exposures

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Tokina 70-200mm f4 Pro portrait review image (1 of 1)ISO 1001-160 sec at f - 4.0

 

Use the Wide Angle Diffuser on Your Flash To Make the Light Look Softer

Model: Bec Fordyce
Model: Bec Fordyce

Bounce a Flash at a Window To Augment the Natural Lighting

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Otus Grace Morales (4 of 4)ISO 4001-100 sec at f - 1.8

Place a Flash by a Warm Light Source to Overpower it and Normalize the Colors

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Conquering Mixed Lighting (2 of 3)ISO 4001-60 sec at f - 2.0

Backlight a Subject and Expose For Their Face to Give Them a Beautiful Glow

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony A7r review photos brooklyn bridge reddit walk (11 of 14)ISO 1001-320 sec at f - 3.5

Use Reflected Lighting From a Building to Fill in Shadows

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer 85mm vs 50mm portrait test Sigma 50mm f1.4 other (1 of 1)ISO 2001-640 sec at f - 2.8

Aim a Flash at a Surface Above and Behind You to Illuminate the Front of a Person Vs Using a Light Modifier

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Otus Alex portrait for review (1 of 1)ISO 1001-125 sec at f - 5.6

Underexpose a Subject With Lots of Bright Light on Them to Get the Details Back

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Fujifilm X Pro 1 review images mxpx (15 of 22)ISO 6400

Meter the Ambient Light Then Add Flash Light Output to Make a Scene Look More Natural

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony 16-35mm f4 portrait images (1 of 2)ISO 2001-200 sec at f - 4.0

For Landscapes, Expose for the Highlights. Shadows Can Always be Pushed

Pro Tip: Some of the best times to shoot landscapes are during the Golden Hour and the Blue Hour. Don't start packing up until you need to crank your ISOs up.
Pro Tip: Some of the best times to shoot landscapes are during the Golden Hour and the Blue Hour. Don’t start packing up until you need to crank your ISOs up.

Bounce Light off of Silver Surfaces For Extra Punchy Light

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Panasonic 7-14mm f4 sample images (3 of 44)ISO 2001-160 sec at f - 4.0

Light a Macro Photo With a Flash and a White Panel Right Above the Subject For Softer Light

Pro Tip: Rather than boosting your ISO levels, use a diffused flash to get the image that you want. And also remember that at the macro ranges very little will be in focus the  closer you get to your subject.
Pro Tip: Rather than boosting your ISO levels, use a diffused flash to get the image that you want. And also remember that at the macro ranges very little will be in focus the closer you get to your subject.
flash highlights landscape lighting portrait surfaces
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Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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