Weekly Assignment: Shoot with Available Light

[PWS-Staff]

The assignment here is to shoot during the day using the available light. This assignment might seem easy at first look, but you really need to think about the light in each photo you take. Here are some things to help you along:

■ Shoot in RAW. Using the RAW file type gives you greater latitude in post-production editing, and it is especially useful when you are making corrections to the exposure and white balance.

■ Look for the shade. The light in shaded areas is much softer and more pleasant to the eye. There are no harsh shadows and bright spots. This is also true on cloudy days when the clouds diffuse the light. This makes cloudy days great for taking photos of people.

■ Watch the exposure. Decide whether you are going to expose for the bright parts or the dark parts of your image and constantly adjust as the light changes.

■ Watch for highlight warnings. Check your camera and set the LCD to show the highlight clipping warning so that you know when parts of your image have turned completely detail-free white.

Take several shots making adjustments as you do, and post your favorite shot to the Web site to share.

Here, you can see that the bright sun was diffused beautifully by the umbrella that the bridesmaid was carrying. This created a much more even light and helped reduce the tonal range present in the image. It was taken at ISO 100, f/4, and 1/320 of a second.

From "Digital Wedding Photography," by Kenny Kim