How To: Use low key lighting in photography
Learn how to use the low key lighting technique to take darker pictures.
Learn how to use the low key lighting technique to take darker pictures.
You need a flash to add light to dark photography settings, but a flash might make your picture look blown out or overexposed. Here are some good tips, like adjusting your aperture or manual ISO to maximize your available light. A tripod will also help you by allowing a longer shutter speed. Or, use a diffuser made over an old, translucent film canister!
Mark Wallace explains the use of lighting equipment (grip, light modifiers, and light sources). Part 1 of 3 - How to Use lighting equipment for photography.
Studio portrait photography using a single light can be tricky to master. Learn how to achieve beautiful portraits with expertise from a professional photographer in this free instructional video series.
This sequence of videos provides a tutorial on how to set up basic studio lighting in many settings. With these photography techniques, you will be able to create a variety of wonderful portraits with various lighting techniques.
This instructional photography video explains step-by-step the features of active D-Lighting: what it can do and how it affects your images. Active D-Lighting allows you to photograph in various lighting situations for more neutral contrast results. Here is a basic explanation of the settings on a professional Nikon photo camera:
This instructional photography video with Jim Talkington explores tabletop studio photography done with mirrors. Use just one light and several mirrors to light your subject. You can also use silver poster board or white poster board to reflect the light from the strobe. Mirrors are the best way to reflect most of the light in your shoot. Practice these tips and improve your photography skills.
This photography tutorial shows you how to make a better shutter release lock for Diana Plus and vintage Diana cameras. This is helpful for low light situations and long exposures. You can make a replacement shutter release lock with a clothes pin and a file. Have fun taking night photographs with this handy tool.
How does taking photographs outside differ from taking photos inside? Well, unlike indoor photography, which boast easily adjustable artificial lighting and lighting effects, with outdoor photography the light you get is the light you use.
Here is a Harper Point Photography video on gobos for fashion photography. Nathan gives a simple but effective photo tip for creating dynamic light with a cardboard 'go-bo.' The gobo is a lighting element that texturizes lighting by blocking in strategically. Apply these directly to a light to shine texture or to light with words as a projector would.
When choosing camera film, use slow film for bright day light, medium speed film for a cloudy day and high speed film for low light conditions. Choose the right speed of film for a particular camera with the tips in this free instructional video on photography tips from a professional photographer. The speed of the film is essential in determining what type of environment you will be taking pictures, so listen up!
In photography, good lighting can mean the difference between an amateur shot and a professional quality portrait. Whether you're taking photographs outdoors or in, using lighting to your advantage creates an artistic, flattering effect.
Long exposure photography has long allowed photographers to do amazing things with light. Now you can do that! This video will show you how to use a long exposure, sparklers, and Photoshop to create amazing psychedelic art on your photographs. This new art form is called light painting or light writing, looks amazing, and is pretty easy to get started doing. Do it!
Have a passion for photography but know nothing about the basics? This video might be a great place to start on the topic of shutter speed. Shutter speed is the amount of time that the film, or your digital sensor, is exposed to the light. Whether it be outdoors, at night, or low indoor light, the shutter speed allows your camera to take a photograph with the correct amount of exposure in reference to how much light is readily available in your setting.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ have a new camera feature that Samsung is calling "Dual Aperture." On the surface, that may sound like your typical techno-jargon, but it actually has some significant implications for the future of smartphone photography.
Professional photography is all about lighting and equipment. Get tips for beginning your photographer career in this free video series from a professional!
This video presents tips for basic studio photography lighting for glass objects.
Watch this instructional photography video with Jim Talkington and learn how to light a studio portrait using three lights. This is the classic three light portrait technique using a main light, fill card, hair light and background light in the photo studio. Adding additional lights should bring out texture, extra detail, and three dimensionality. Practice these tips and improve your photography skills.
This instructional photography video with Jim Talkington explores various studio photography tricks. Whether shooting products or people, the whole reason for studio lighting is to be able to define the things you want to define and to minimize the things you don't want to see in the photograph. Practice these tips and improve your photography skills.
Mark Wallace explains how to set up butterfly lighting (AKA Glamour Lighting; AKA Paramount Lighting)with three light sources. This video shows a nice soft lighting underneath the nose. Used if you want to create a strong powerful look, or if your subject has strong cheekbones or jawline. This type of lighting was used in the filming of "Sin City".
NikonDifferent of Nikon shows you how to shoot zoo/ wild life photography (particularly with a Nikon d40 as an example with a zoom lens with Vibration Reduction), given the fact that animal enclosures are usually set up to give the animals space. You'll want to limit your visit to two or three types of animals (good photographs require time or patience). Animals playing/ fighting make good pictures, but you need to set a fast shutter speed (if you have low light, crank up your ISO). Try to an...
Watch this instructional photography video with Jim Talkington and learn how to light a '57 Chevy in a photo studio. This is a beautiful car, but it prevents some challenges in photographing the shiny paint and chrome surface. In this tutorial, experiment how to set up the lighting. This video is great for car aficionados. Practice these tips and improve your photography skills.
Mark Wallace explains how to use basic lighting principles and lighting equipment to set up a three light set up.
Looking to get into the world of fashion photography? In this video, learn how to light a professional fashion photoshoot. Go behind the scenes with professional Denver based photographer Adam Bonilla and learn what it takes to get the right light!
Does the Low Oil Pressure light in your car always come on? Experienced mechanic Scotty Kilmer shows you a few strategies on how to make this light shut off. Make sure your oil is not too low before trying anything else.
Bring a little life to your films, or maybe a little "light". Watch this video to see how to make your own 400-watt video light for film or photography. You can make this video light with mere parts from the local hardware store, such as plastic paneling (which is cheap, easy to cut and non-conductive), zip ties, 4 plastic bulb sockets, lamp cord (like Romex), a cheap plug, and good and cheap diffusion. With all of these materials, you'll have your own homemade light for any film or photo pro...
Create a larger, more sophisticated studio photography lighting setup but still use simple materials
If you're a professional still photographer, then you probably have a lot of equipment you drag around with you. Check out this video from Dan Carr that shows you how to pack a lighting kit for still photography. He shows you what kind of equipment he uses in his Pelican 1610 case.
Mark Wallace explains the basic principles of light and how it relates to photography.
Lighting is very important to photography. The proper lighting can make your subject or scene appear in a totally new way. Whether you are adding, or eliminating shadow, using light to manipulate the way something looks, or just setting up for a flattering portrait, you will need to know some light basics. In this tutorial, Mark will show you how to set up lighting for a fantastic picture. You will learn seven different setups to make sure you have the right arrangement for your particular ne...
One popular way to use light in photography is with a three point lighting setup. In this tutorial, learn how to set up three point lights in portrait photography and get the most flattering shot of your subject. There is an art to making people look good and proper lighting is very important. So, if you have your equipment and are ready to start assembling it all, have a look at this instructional clip and follow the step by step to get started.
Your "check gauges" light comes on inside your vehicle, which prompts you to notice your oil pressure gauge, which is reading pretty low. What do you do to resolve this car problem? In this video, Scotty Kilmer shows you what you can do to shut that low engine oil light off for good!
Mark Wallace shows how to set up a pocket wizard system and use mixed lighting for photography.
If you're just getting started in photography or if you're looking to learn a little bit more about your camera, then you may have run into the term "Aperture" or "Aperture Values", or those weird number numbers. Aperture is in the lens of your camera and determines how much light enters into the lens itself and helps to determine your focal length. In this video you will get a small lesson on what Aperture is, and how to calculate focal length and aperture values.
This video shows you how to make a simple, DIY ring light for your point and shoot Canon G10 or G11 camera. By using either cool white or warm white LED lights, you can set your white balance presets to daylight or tungsten. Ring lights are incredibly useful in fashion photography for an even, soft light with a striking eye light.
Light streaks look very cool. Their coolness is practically the reason time-lapse photography exists. This video will teach you how to take light sources in video and create light streaks off of them using Adobe After Effects. Make your nighttime videos look much more spiffy by applying these techniques.
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to photograph with infrared. Infrared photography is photography the infrared spectrum of light, rather the visible spectrum of light. The main effect are to turn the sky darker, smooth out skin and turn foliage white. Users will need a camera that is converted into infrared. Then simply take a picture with the infrared camera and all the photos that are created by the camera will be in infrared. This video will benefit those viewers who are intereste...
Low budger project? NO budget project? Lighting is a key part of any film, so you don't want to skimp on it. This tutorial shows you how to set up some inexpensive lighting systems when you're filming a documentary or interview.
Here's how to take a well lit outdoor portrait. It's best to shoot outdoor photographs in the morning or late afternoon to catch the best light. Use light reflectors to deflect light coming from below. This instructional photography video will show you how to make subtle lighting adjustments to take a stunning photo portrait.
The appropriate lighting in photography can make the difference between an average photograph and a great photograph. Get a better understanding of how to create the perfect lighting for your photograph from a professional photographer in this free photography video series.