Understanding Light Articles

Golden hour is one of the most sought after and appreciated time of the day for photography and with the sun low in the horizon and everything glowing in golden hues, this time of the day can help to capture stunning photographs from landscapes, architecture, portraits to even street photography. Here are some resources that will help with some practical ideas to capture magical photos during the golden hour.

Once upon a time during the film era of photography…photographers had to keep a light meter handy at all times so they could take readings to get proper exposures. Experimenting on-scene was simply out of the question; it was expensive and time consuming. Being caught without a light meter — or several other pieces of gear that we take for granted in modern times — meant trouble; but just in case that ever happened, photographers devised various principles and guidelines designed to help them navigate their fully manual cameras. Among the most famous of those guidelines is the “sunny 16 rule.”

I’m sure you’ve seen many beautiful cinematic shots with backlighting on social media and elsewhere. They are powerful, magical, romantic, and if done well, pretty mysterious and artistic. Backlighting is a common term in photography with an obvious meaning. To put it simply, it’s a type of lighting coming from behind the subject. This is […]

You look out of the window, the sun is out, there’s not a cloud in the sky. You grab your camera, head to a photogenic location. You then spend several hours trying to work out why your compositions in blue skies photography are just not working. We are told early in our photographic journeys that […]

Those of us inhabiting the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere are slowly slipping through autumn into the clutches of a grey cold winter. It’s often a time when cameras are stowed at the back of cupboards, to gather dust until spring’s soft light pops its head around the door. It is a time when […]