Shoot For The Light

Peter Fenech shows you how you can adapt your shooting technique and approach to master every lighting condition

- Peter Fenech

Saying that you need to alter your approach to capturing light according to a given scene might seem like an obvious statement. However, it’s surprising how often we forget to do this once presented with a photogenic subject. In our effort to quickly capture the scene before the opportunity is lost, photographers can fail to tailor their shooting techniques to make the most of the angle, intensity, and color balance of the light. This is even truer in the digital age, as we’ve become more accustomed to being able to correct lighting and color in post-processing.

Of course, exposure can be corrected with ease in raw processing applications, and in Photoshop multiple frames can be blended for a wider dynamic range, and lighting effects can be applied or removed at will. In this feature, though, we’ll be showing you more than simply ways to correct lighting imperfections. By familiarising yourself with the main characteristics of light in various conditions you can learn how to focus on the most attractive aspects of different types of lighting, enjoying all of the potential benefits and avoiding the common pitfalls.