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Photographers are readers of light. We are either continuously looking to see where the light is coming from, how strong it is and what qualities it possesses. Most of the time this is done almost intuitively, but being more professional means getting a real control of how to use the direction, strength and 'temperature' of the light.
Perhaps many readers will not have thought about light having a temperature, but those who have thought about the quality of light will already appreciate that daylight has a different quality to light bulbs whether neon, halogen or good old filament! The technically minded have come to call this light temperature, and most cameras automatically adjust to the quality, just as our eyes do.
A good example of colour temperature is what many photographers call the 'golden hour'. That hour just before sunset when sunlight takes on a warm almost golden quality. The picture looking up Princes Street in Edinburgh towards Carlton Hill past the Scott Memorial, shows the golden light of late evening and how it warms the tones of the stone buildings in the distance.
This picture of the Old Dee Bridge in Chester tries to capture that diffuse quality of light after a snow shower and when the sun is obscured by the cloud. Beautiful turquoises in the sky too.
Artificial sodium street lighting, as in the picture of Northgate Street in Chester, also has its own strongly yellow and orange quality picked up well in the wet cobbles. Flares from the lights also add dramatic effect.
You generally cannot control the light, but understanding it will allow you to use it and improve the quality of your images. Flash and studio photography is a different matter, more in another post.
Perhaps many readers will not have thought about light having a temperature, but those who have thought about the quality of light will already appreciate that daylight has a different quality to light bulbs whether neon, halogen or good old filament! The technically minded have come to call this light temperature, and most cameras automatically adjust to the quality, just as our eyes do.
A good example of colour temperature is what many photographers call the 'golden hour'. That hour just before sunset when sunlight takes on a warm almost golden quality. The picture looking up Princes Street in Edinburgh towards Carlton Hill past the Scott Memorial, shows the golden light of late evening and how it warms the tones of the stone buildings in the distance.
This picture of the Old Dee Bridge in Chester tries to capture that diffuse quality of light after a snow shower and when the sun is obscured by the cloud. Beautiful turquoises in the sky too.
Artificial sodium street lighting, as in the picture of Northgate Street in Chester, also has its own strongly yellow and orange quality picked up well in the wet cobbles. Flares from the lights also add dramatic effect.
You generally cannot control the light, but understanding it will allow you to use it and improve the quality of your images. Flash and studio photography is a different matter, more in another post.
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