
16/07/2013 Jacob James 10 Photography (Lighting) Tips
UK local hero Jacob James shares his top 10 Photography Tips - Learn how to work with light as a photographer.
The word photography is derived from the Greek word for photos which loosely translates as light and graph which loosely translates as to draw. Photography or drawing with light is in its simplest terms the art of capturing light learning how to control the light is therefore essential to creating great images. Here are ten simple points that form the basis of working with light.
Portraits by Jacomb James
Images by Jacob James.
1. Relative Size
The softness of light is controlled by the relative size of the light source. The bigger the relative size of a light source the softer the light (less harsh shadows). By applying this property of light you can still create soft light from relatively small light sources by placing them much closer to your subject.
2. Light Source Distance
The distance of your light source away from your subject is intrinsically linked with the relative size of your light source. The further a light source moves away from the subject the smaller its relative size. This property of light is what causes a huge light source such as the sun to create harsh shadows at midday despite its enormous size.
3. Diffusion
Diffusion will cause the light to be spread wider, increase the light source's relative size and therefore give softer light. The downside to this is that if you spread the same quantity of light over a larger area, the overall power of your light will be slightly decreased.
4. Bouncing Light
A simple trick to increase the relative light source size is to bounce a smaller sized light source such as a flash into the ceiling above. This then converts the ceiling into your light source and therefore greatly increases its relative size. Make sure that the ceiling is a neutral colour however or you could end up with some crazy results!
5. Reflector
The cheapest and simplest way to add control to your lighting is with a reflector. A reflector can be used to soften shadows or bounce light onto your subject from a stronger light source. In the same way as before, the larger the reflector the softer the light it will produce!
6. Fall Off
The rate in which light falls off is not linear. As you double the distance away from the light source you divide the intensity of the light source by 4. Therefore the closer to the light source your subject is the greater the fall off. This is important to remember if you are shooting a group of people as you will want the lighting to remain as equal as possible over the entire group. To counter this effect the light source will have to be placed further back due to fall off. If it is placed too close there will be a larger difference in exposure between the people in the group (especially if you have a multi-row group) and the subjects in the row behind will be darker than those in front.
7. Lighting Angle
The angle of your light to your subject controls the depth of the shadows on your subjects and therefore controls texture. Placing your light directly in front of your subject will remove texture and shape whereas placing it at 90 degrees will greatly emphasise it (possibly too extreme). A good starting point is around 45 degrees between yourself and your subject.
8. Shadows
Don't be afraid of shadows. When used correctly shadows give your subject depth rather than just rendering them as a flat surface. This is often used for highly structured faces to emphasis this characteristic. This can be achieved by placing your subject so that the light falls onto them at an angle rather than straight on, allowing their facial features to cast shadows.
9. Time
The position of the sun in the sky controls how hard the natural light is. Shooting during the early and late hours of the day close to sunset and sunrise will give much softer light and allow you to shoot outside without the typical unflattering shadows of midday. However shooting in shade or on an over cast day can produce really flatteringly soft light for your subjects.
10. Colour
The colour of your light is also important. Throughout the day the colour temperature varies and tends to be warmer golden light closer to sunrise and sunset. If you wish to add artificial light to the scene consider using coloured gels to replicate the natural light.
More information about Jacob James and his work can be found at: Jacob James Photography and on Facebook.
Jacob James is just one of the many talented photographers who host free Manfrotto School of Xcellence webinars. To see what events are coming up, visit the MSoX website. Youll also find LED lights as well as various lighting accessories over on the Manfrotto UK websiite.
Most recent headlines
21/02/2025
LAS VEGAS Wisycom has announced that it will debut its BFL2 Portable RF-over-Fiber system to the broadcast market at the 2025 NAB Show between April 5-9 at its ...
21/02/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has appointed Samantha Osborne Reynolds vice president of political sales. In the new role, Osborne Reynolds is responsible fo...
21/02/2025
How to Make Street Art in Apple Motion
Simon Ubsdell February 21, 2025
0 Comments
How to create a 2D trompe l'oeil street art effect in Apple Moti...
21/02/2025
Clear Life Media Adds Blackmagic Replay For Sports Streaming
Brie Clayton February 21, 2025
0 Comments
Texas production company competes for larger pr...
21/02/2025
LOTR Cinematography: Lighting Techniques Explained
Filip Ne old February 21, 2025
0 Comments
How does lighting shape storytelling in The Lord of the R...
21/02/2025
Redshift for Cinema 4D: The Art of Anisotropic Reflections
Marc Potocnik February 21, 2025
0 Comments
Anisotropic Reflections and Radial Micro Scratch...
21/02/2025
ESPN announced Thursday night that it will no longer broadcast Major League Baseball games starting in 2026 after the network failed to agree to terms for a new...
21/02/2025
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has asked the U.S. Dept. of Justice to closely scrutinize Disney's acquisition of FuboTV, expressing concerns that the d...
21/02/2025
Paul Glasgow also takes on the role of sales and marketing director under strategic changes made by Marquis owners, Dan Technologies Group
By Matthew Corrigan ...
21/02/2025
The Berlusconi-owned media group owns a 29.9 per cent stake in the broadcaster
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 21, 2025
The Berlusconi-owned media...
21/02/2025
A new study suggests that the 50th season of Saturday Night Live is proving to be a major financial success for NBCUniversal's Peacock, generating an esti...
21/02/2025
Calrec expands its flexible production model at NAB 2025 with True Control 2.0, ...
21/02/2025
Rossetto Supermarket Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton February 20, 2025
0 Comments
Campaign brings dreamlike visuals to life throu...
21/02/2025
Corbel 3D and Pixel Light Effects' Leap to Simple, Fast File Transfer
Brie Clayton February 20, 2025
0 Comments
The Setting Corbel 3D, located in ...
21/02/2025
Alum TK Johnson Backs Bartees Strange for a Tiny Desk Instant Classic The drummer has been playing with Bartees since 2022, and also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel ...
20/02/2025
Ever since Spotify and FC Barcelona forged a first-of-its kind partnership three...
20/02/2025
As Spotify continues to roll out audiobooks to new listeners worldwide, we're committed to providing authors with tools that help them reach those listeners...
20/02/2025
The amount of broadcasters worldwide using artificial intelligence (AI) has more than doubled over the last 12 months, with 25% now employing the technology....
20/02/2025
BOSTON New England sports fans nationwide will now have a new FAST channel bringing them news, insight and live programming covering its major league and colleg...
20/02/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron today launched its 2025 Designer of the Year Competition and said the winner will be announced live at the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at th...
20/02/2025
LONDON Sports entertainment platform DAZN said the second season of NFL Game Pass on DAZN saw significant growth, with paid subscribers growing by 23% year-over...
20/02/2025
Stuart Barnes, Yospaces VP international business development, explains the importance of getting stuck in when part of the media tech industry
By Matthew Corr...
20/02/2025
Broadcast techs saw a 25% boost in their pay in 2024, according to annual survey
By Tom Butts
Published: February 20, 2025
Broadcast techs saw a 25% boost...
20/02/2025
WASHINGTON The 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at the Las Vegas Convention Center will mark the debut of the Business of Entertainment track developed with The Ankler...
20/02/2025
TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. has announced that news veteran Adrienne Roark has been named chief content officer reporting to CEO Mike Steib, effective March 31....
20/02/2025
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Roku has further expanded its sports content with a new media rights deal with Bassmaster that will make Roku the streaming hub for Bassmaster ...
20/02/2025
WASHINGTON National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt opened The Media Institute's 2025 Communications Forum series with a s...
20/02/2025
The Belonging Co., a Nashville-based church renowned for its dynamic worship experiences and multimedia-rich conferences, tapped DigitalGlue's creative.spac...
20/02/2025
Mediahuis Radio continues its expansion with the completion of a new production facility in Amsterdam. DHD RX2 and DX2 audio mixers connected to XD3 Cores form ...
20/02/2025
At NAB 2025, Calrec is introducing a suite of new interconnected products and updates aiming to help broadcasters meet a variety of challenges. With increased c...
20/02/2025
Keepit, the world's only independent vendor of cloud backup and recovery solutions designed to protect SaaS data, today announced a remarkable year of growt...
20/02/2025
Expanded SMPTE ST 2110 support strengthens lip-sync and latency measurement solutions
Hitomi Broadcast, the market leader in audio/video alignment and latency ...
20/02/2025
LiveU, a leader in live IP-video and remote production solutions, today announced the successful implementation of its comprehensive IP remote production soluti...
20/02/2025
MainConcept, a leading provider of video and audio codecs, has announced a partnership with cloud playout solutions provider, Veset, to integrate its JPEG XS SD...
20/02/2025
OOONA, a leading provider of professional management and production tools for the media localization industry, announces the launch of On Stage, a free-to-acces...
20/02/2025
18 02 2025 - Media release Feisty Feminist Murder Mystery He Had It Coming Announced
Stars of He Had It Coming, Lydia West, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Liv Hewso...
20/02/2025
18 02 2025 - Media release Screen Australia and Stan Announce New Comedy-Horror Series Gnomes
Gnomes writers Tegan Higginbotham and Paul Verhoeven, and creato...
20/02/2025
Do I Know You From Somewhere? Shot with URSA Mini Pro 12K
Brie Clayton February 19, 2025
0 Comments
Canadian indie film uses Blackmagic camera to crea...
20/02/2025
Berklee Ensemble for Musicians with Disabilities Is Stronger for Our Differences Associate Professor Adrian Anantawan, who founded Berklee's Music Inclusi...
20/02/2025
Ottawa, Canada - February 20, 2025 - Ross Video, your most trusted partner in live video production solutions, is excited to announce our participation at the 2...
20/02/2025
Shure Establishes Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance By SVG Staff
Thursday, February 20, 2025 - 7:30 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights...
20/02/2025
Behind the Broadcast Booth Episode 1: Curtis Symonds of HBCUGO Shares His Journe...
20/02/2025
Twists and turns: How technology helped to tell the story of the European Luge C...
20/02/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: AudioShake's Suzanne Kirkland Shares How AI Is Ma...
20/02/2025
Planning process: Behind the broadcast scenes of the inaugural World Athletics U...
20/02/2025
NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Championship Game Has All the Makings of a Game 7 for ESP...
20/02/2025
Rohde & Schwarz successfully validates ML-enhanced channel-state information fee...
20/02/2025
Wuppertal February 20, 2025
Riedel Introduces Breakthrough Communication Capab...
20/02/2025
Back to All News
Meet the Singles From the Upcoming Season of Love is Blind: Sweden
Entertainment
20 February 2025
GlobalDenmarkNorwaySweden
Link copied to...
20/02/2025
Back to All News
Jisoo and Seo In-guk Star in Boyfriend on Demand' (WT), A...