Lighting - Part 1
1. Natural Light
- Natural light refers to the usage of a natural light source to take photos, usually the sun.
- This is one of, if not the best light source when it comes to equipment, being that it doesn’t really require any. This is super useful for amateurs, those who don’t have a lot of funding for tools, and even experienced photographers who enjoy the conveniency of it (because who doesn’t love convenient things?).
- Another pro to natural lighting is that you can use it inside and outside. It is obviously a useful source outdoors, but the kind of light that is produced through windows and doors can create quite some interesting effects on the photos.
Inside/natural lighting/window effect 
Outside/natural light
- It’s also the technique that’s used to capture photos in a softer lighting; it enhances the food’s textures and colors in a way that is much harder to create with artificial light (this is where gobos are VERY handy).
- Natural light is the best when it comes to taking photos of natural produce, beverages, and especially baked goods (the texture of them really pulls it together) where the warm sunlight becomes very inviting.
- This kind of lighting also come with tons of variety, since natural light changes all throughout the day, it can create many different effects. Whether it’s the bright light of early mornings, or the warm and ethereal light of golden hour, the time of day play a huge role in the intensity and subtlety.
- This is where the cons of natural light come into play, in short, you can’t control the sun, not in the slightest. And when it comes to things like photography, the sun moves at what feels like light speed. This makes things difficult when doing a prolonged photoshoot and ruins the consistency of the images.
- Weather is also a big part of natural lighting and act as a double-edged sword. A cloudy day is sort of like a natural diffuser (which takes away even more equipment that you may need), but a cloudy day might lead to rain or other sorts of events.
Continuous and Strobe Lighting
Before we continue with the research into lighting, we need to go over continuous and strobe lighting.
· Continuous lighting refers to light that stays active throughout the entirety of the photoshoot. It allows you to see how the light affects shadows without the uncertainty of appearance that strobe (also known as flash), adjust the angles, and be able to try out various looks and being able to see their differences in real time. Continuous lighting tends to create a lot softer and more natural look to the photos, is generally easy to set up, and is certainly a lot cheaper.
· However, that doesn’t mean it comes without any drawbacks, continuous lighting have a lower output of light, making it harder to work in chaotic or outdoor environments, luckily this isn’t a huge problem for me since I will most likely be shooting inside and food photography tends to focus on the…food (Which doesn’t move!). Another con with continuous lighting is that when taking the photo, this lighting is more likely to shift the color of the image then strobe lighting.
· Strobe lights (Also known as flash) emit powerful bursts of light in a matter of seconds. These lights are much brighter than continuous lighting, which allows photographers to shoot at a lower ISO (In layman’s terms it’s a setting that brightens or darkens a photo), and get the sharpest outcomes, even in super bright environments.
· Unfortunately, strobe lights require a lot more setup and experience to use effectively (Which I am certainly not a master of). I most likely won’t being using any kind of strobe lighting, since it would require some experimentation, and would most likely be really time consuming, but I also have taken photos using continuous lighting, and I have access to a soft-box (courtesy of a family a member!), so I think I’ll stick to what I’m most familiar with.
2. Artificial Light
· Artificial lighting to refers to any type of man-made light used to illuminate the subject. This includes bulbs, lamps, and camera flashes.
· This kind of light is often used in a more professional setting; it allows photographers to maintain a controlled and consistent source. They can manipulate completely regardless of the time or weather; this makes continuity in photo shoots a lot easier.
· But artificial light is such a broad term. There are a bunch of different kinds of artificial lighting, each with its own unique style, so let’s look at a few of those.
LED
LED lighting is known for its flexible range of colors, giving photographers the ability to choose the mood or ambient light of the photo. They are also very energy efficient and produce a lot less heat than some of the other kinds of lighting do, this makes it a durable tool that can survive the long hours of photoshoots and are quite portable. Apparently, they are extremely useful in food photography which is something that I’ve never seen and been able to recognize.
The only downside to LED’s is that it can cast an unnatural color onto the scene that requires tweaking in post (this is something I would like to avoid because coloring is not my strong suit in the slightest). To use LED’s effectively you also need to use precise positioning as to not get harsh shadows and unwanted highlights.
Tungsten
Tungsten lights produce a warm and more natural tone; this definitely helps in giving food a welcome and comforting mood. A con of tungsten however is that it can get very hot and use up more power, and depending on the dishes I decide to do could compromise them after a session. They also give a HEAVY orange tint to photos that can sometimes make the light source look dingy, making it require a lot of adjustments in camera settings and changes in post.
Fluorescent
Fluorescents produce softer and more diffused light source. They are low-energy and super available, making them a great cost-effective tool for food photography (Which is exactly what I need). This kind of light is great for fast food and photos shot in diner like areas, on the other hand fluorescent does give a bluish tone to its photos which sometimes needs corrections, but other than that it is great for those with low budgets.
Reflection
Today’s blog post was a great way to learn about what I should be aware of when I begin taking photos. Luckily, I have some experience with continuous light and fluorescents, and good materials, so I hope that this research will help lead me to a smoother process overall. In reality I am not the most adept in coloring so I will do my best to use lighting that will get me the best photos when raw. In my next post I will be doing a lot shorter of an entry on side and backlighting (Since putting it in this one would make it much to long).
See you all on the next post!
