What if we told you there was a simple way to ensure your clients are always in the best available light? You can master photography lighting by using one tool that we guarantee you have on hand at this very moment. Ready to learn our best photography lighting hack? Use this simple trick.
Use Your Hand to Read Light:
Learning to read light is critical to the success of your photography, but it doesn’t have to be complicated! All you need is your hand to help you discover the most flattering light. Sounds too simple to be true, right? In this case, it works like a charm! Photography lighting is one of the most powerful tools to have in your pocket and we’re going to teach you how to utilize it!
Direct Light
Place your hand in the same space you plan to photograph your client and slowly tilt it back and forth, up and down. Did you notice how the light illuminates your hand differently depending on its tilt toward or away from your light source? Your hand will give you a real time reference on how the light will fall on your subjects’ faces, so when you go to place your subjects in the scene, you know exactly how to position them for the best results. Teaching yourself photography lighting in this way gives a strong visual for the conditions you’re in at that exact moment. As photographers, visual markers are the best way for us to learn!
photo credit: haley plenger
Side Light
Tilting your hand so the light source is directly to the side causes harsher shadows to appear in the creases of your hand. Parts of your hand are illuminated while other parts fall into shadow. This sidelight will produce a portrait with greater contrast on your subject’s face. In photography lighting, this kind makes for a more dynamic image.
Here’s an example you’d see in the real world. Notice how the shadows fall behind and to the left of them? How the light hits the subject in front strongly, and the subject behind is shadowed? Shadows are an easy indicator for the direction of light you’re working with and as we all know, lighting is key for a strong, intentional photograph.
photo credit: gustavo garcia
Back Light
Turn your palm 180° away from your light source. Your hand is now backlit and your entire palm is in consistent lighting. Back light will produce a portrait with even lighting. As far as photography lighting goes, this one tends to trip folks up a little. Be careful not to let the light hit directly onto your lens as this will cause intense sun flare and muddy results.
photo credit: jen dillender
If you can take a few seconds to NOT fawn over the most adorable wedding guest in the world, you’ll notice the “halo,” type light that seems to illuminate the fluffy puppy from the back, left side. It’s also visible on the brides left side as well. Back lighting can be very eye catching and dynamically beautiful but be careful! If you have too much directional sunlight going straight into your lens, the result won’t be a glorious glow, it’ll be blown out fuzz. And not the cute kind.
Bet you didn't know the best tool for mastering photography lighting was literally in your hands this whole time!
How do you find the best photography lighting? What do you think of this trick? Give it a shot and let us know what you think.
