I love the light, plain and simple, and I’m a firm believer in one of my favorite phrases, “You find the light and you’ll find the shot”. I’ve been following this self-appointed rule for as long as I can remember and it has served me well.

One of my favorite ways to shoot is to find a little dab of sunlight somewhere, usually hidden between larger areas of shadow and or color, and place or see an object or subject in it. When I expose for only the area in light, I can make the shadow area ever more dramatic and interesting…and colorful.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind”workshops I conduct around the planet, I’m always telling my fellow photographers that one of the best ways to take their photography what I refer to as “up a notch”, is to “see past first impressions”. I usually follow this with a quote by Henry David Thoreau who once said, “It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see”.

What I mean in this context is when you find yourself at some location, look for areas that have a small amount of light hitting somewhere. This is easier to find when the light is dappled, but harder to find when the majority of the scene is in shadow. When you see it, think of ways to utilize it. I can promise you there’s a chance to walk away with one of those illusive “Keepers” we all strive for but sometimes have a hard time creating.

There are people out there that think this is not a good idea and will tell you that you need more light to take good photos. All I can tell you is to run away as fast as you can because they will only beat you up with bad advice and drag you down to their level.

In the above photo taken during my Springtime in Berlin workshop, I was walking down the street and saw a crowd of people standing in line. I’m always attracted to this becauseof the possibility that something going on.

What the people were doing is waiting for this restaurant to open, so I walked up to the front to see what it looked like. I’m really curious about everything, especially when I have a camera in my hand…which is most of the time.

There, right in front of my eyes was this chair being lit by the sun coming through a small hole in the red fabric. Needless to say, I was all over it like a tight fitting Lassie costume.!!!

This is an excerpt from Photography Essentials, taught by Brit Hammer.

What the camera thinks is a correct exposure is not always right

In the example at top left, this is what the camera chose for the exposure, but this was not how it looked in reality. The camera does not know that these sand dunes and white clouds look very bright in reality. It just makes the image a medium level of brightness.

This is why you sometimes have to help the camera and tell it to brighten or darken things. You do this by using exposure compensation.

In the image at top right I used exposure compensation to make it look more natural.

The secret to a well-edited image is to not only having the exposure, contrast, white balance, and saturation correctly adjusted, it is also to look at your picture it in parts. What parts of the image could be adjusted individually to add more definition, detail, vibrancy, or clarity to your image? 

My favorite tools for this fine-tuning are in the selective adjustment panel in Adobe Lightroom CC. If you click on one of the selective tools such as the graduated filter, the radial filter or the adjustment brush, you will see the basic adjustment panel. Depending on the areas you would like to adjust, select the appropriate tool. To add more drama to a sky, I would use the graduated adjustment tool, to increase or decrease exposure in a particular area, I would use the radial filter, to fine tune smaller areas, I would use the adjustment brush.

On some images, I may have multiple selective adjustment masks (they are called masks because they mask out only certain areas of an image).

In the image below, I have made the preliminary adjustments in exposure and vibrance. You can see by the histogram that this is a balanced image and there is room in the shadows and highlights to enhance it further. I’d like to add more detail and contrast to the sky, enhance the color of the water and add some saturation to the hillsides.

The first thing to do is use the graduated adjustment filter and pull it down from the top of the image to just below the horizon line. (I have ticked the box “show selected mask overlay” so the red mask shows the area being affected by the adjustment.)

Then, add other areas of selected masks with the radial filter. I added a mask to the ocean and a couple of masks to the coastline as shown below and made the adjustments to my liking. I mostly added exposure, saturation, and clarity to pop out the details.

Once you are happy with your selected results, the last thing to do as add sharpening and your watermark and your done!

If you would like more information on how to create amazing images in Lightroom, take my next Lightroom Quick Start class here at BPSOP.

The below builds upon “The one simple thing that will improve your photos immediately”. (Read that post here.) Excerpted from Photography Essentials, taught by instructor Brit Hammer.

Get in the ballpark first, then refine your camera angle

Walk around your subject, looking at it from four sides, if possible. Begin at subject level. As you look from each of the sides, ask these two questions:

1. Does the light enhance your specific subject?
2. Are there any distracting elements in the background?

As you move around the subject, notice how the light on it changes. Also look for any distractions in the background. Choose the side (a) where the light illuminates the subject best and (b) with the least distracting background. This is the process of getting in the ballpark.

If the subject-level angle doesn’t work, try the same four sides but this time looking up or down at your subject from 45 degrees. Find the side that works best and the general camera angle.

Once you’ve found a side that works, review the edges of your frame. Check if anything in the background distracts from your specific subject. If so, then it means to move slightly left, right, forward, or backward to fine tune your camera angle. Likewise, it might mean to get closer or further away, or to zoom in or out.

It’s this slight zooming in or out, moving left or right, or up or down that refines your camera angle.

Refine your angle: Look at the how your subject is lit

Light creates shadows. Those shadows help define shape.

Compare the two above images. Which is better? Does the shape of the subject look better from one side?

Critique the above images. Which do you prefer and why? What would you change, if anything?