When Artificial Light Is Needed For Digital Photos

The available light can make or break a picture.The amount of light in a photograph will greatly affect both the looks and the emotional feel of the picture.When a picture is brightly lit, it has a more cheerful feel to it than a picture that is darker and may seem gloomy at worst, or mysterious at best.

Traditional photography captured the light by impressions on chemicals, while digital photography uses pixels to capture light.If you can use natural lighting, that's good. However, it's not always available. When the available light isn’t enough, it’s time to resort to artificial lighting.

How Much Light Is There?

While you can see for yourself to some extent how much light is available, to get precise measurements you need a light meter. Light meters are not the same thing as flashes.A light meter will tell you how much light is reflected, but does not actually provide any light.

A handheld light meter will measure the light and was once a standard part of any serious photographer’s equipment. However, since most digital cameras have a built-in light meter, you can tell when you look through the eyepiece how bright your picture will be.The built-in light meter of today's cameras will set off the automatic flash when it's too dark for a good photograph.

Histograms Instead of Light Meters

Also, with digital cameras, it’s not so important to have a light meter because most have a histogram.Histograms can be used in a similar fashion since a histogram shows how light or dark a picture is.

If you don’t have a histogram on your camera, or just don’t want to fuss with it, the simplest method is to take a picture and review it to see how it looks, and if it’s too dark or light, adjust by adding more light or lowering the amount of light.

A lot of practice and a lot of patience will help you get the best lighting for your photographs.