Photography 101

The Challenge

The angle at which daylight hits a subject is critical, so you need to bear in mind the following points:
1. It affects the shape of the object it is falling on, or more accurately the apparent shape of the object.
2. It affects the texture that the camera can reproduce.
3. It affects the picture composition through its manipulation of tonal balance (this is particularly true in b&w photography)

No doubt you will have noticed that the quality of daylight changes throughout the day. That’s partly because the color temperature of the light changes. This change in color temperature alters the color balance of your pictures so that if you photograph your house at sunrise it will appear to be a different color than if you had photographed it at noon.

One of the great things about natural light is that, even if you stay seated in the same spot, you can find totally different effects just by turning in a different directions—in the same lighting conditions, in different directions, you can achieve backlighting, sidelighting, or front lighting.

Judging / Voting Criteria

Vote for the images that best display the use of natural lighting. I would like you to show me photos that have used natural lighting (no flash or artificial lighting allowed). Try photographing from different angles to make silhouettes or sidelighting, etc. Move your subject around so as to get light from another direction. Take photos at different times of the day to play with color temperature. Experiment with it!

Rewards & Prizes

Winner will be featured artist, Top Ten will be featured on the front page. Two non-placers will be chosen by moderator to also be featured!

Additional Information

“There is no such thing as bad light for photography—you just need to know how to use it.”

Cover Image

Daybreak At Rehoboth by Gayle Dolinger