Unit 8 1 (LO1) Understand lighting sources for photography. AC 1.1: Identify and critically compare a range of light sources for photography.

LO1 Understanding lighting sources for photography. AC 1.1 Identify and critically compare a range of light sources for photography.

There are various sources of photography. 

Daylight : Daylight is determined via the weather as well as the time. Morning, Afternoon, Evening, night. At different times of the day the picture will vary, from light to darkness. There's also the elements which rain, lightning, clouds, etc. Which can all affect the outcome of the picture.

Artificial Light : Artificial light is basically  Strobe light (Flash). This light is produced in sharp bursts of light to illuminate the subject in and outside the studio. Strobe light can be used in various ways. As backlight, mainlight, fill light, or a combination of all. Strobe lights can be huge stand alone lights, or can be in the form of a compact  Flashgun/Speedlight. Which can be mounted in the camera and also off. 

It is said that the first artificial light was fire.

All forms of light have their place in photography . It all depends on your environment and the type of shot the photographer wants to produce. Strobe lighting is a definite choice for studio photography. But natural/ambient lighting can also be employed in a studio setting. A flashgun can also be used in conjunction with the larger strobes. Both as a fill flash and to trigger the larger strobes. 

The top image is an example of a studio Strobe light. The bottom image is a Flashgun/Speedlight.

LO2 AC 2.1  Understand light metering .

A light meter is used so as to get a good exposed photograph.Without a meter reading you won't be able to produce well exposed shots. You'll basically be shooting blind. You won't have any guidelines for choosing shutter speeds, aperture and ISO values. And this will result in a series of dark (underexposed) and bright (overexposed) shots. 

But when using a flash meter you can, you can dial in the meter's suggested exposure. And you can create well - exposed photographs consistently. 

There's also in camera metering. Pretty much every camera features a built in light meter. Decades ago, photographers carried with them dedicated lights to meter - but these have become less common. With a built in light the the reflected light from the subject is measured. A dedicated light meter on the other hand. Points away from the subject being photographed and measures the light as it falls on the scene. 

Generally speaking incident light metering is more accurate. It measures the light as it actually falls on the scene. But a reflected meter only measures the reflected light, which varies depending on the objects included in the scene. 

Top image an example of a studio light meter. I actually used this one for my strobe photography.

Bottom image an example of a outdoor manual meter. These are not generally used any more.