Importance of lighting in photography

You know, one of the most overlooked aspects of photography is lighting. As a photographer lighting is one of the few elements that we can control. Granted images can be manipulated with Photoshop and other software, but, in terms of the real elements of a photo, lighting is a key factor. It is amazing how often it is overlooked.

A painter has an entire arsenal at his/her disposal to create a piece of art. They can control the medium, the tools to apply the paint, and the paint itself.  A painter can decide the size of the brush or whether to even use a brush at all. A painter can decide to use canvas, paper, wood, or any of surface and texture on which to create an image.

A photographer has a more limited tool kit. We can use composition, exposure, depth of field, and lighting to create our images. All too often lighting is vastly overlooked because it is either not well understood or even not taken into consideration.

For instance, in the following photo the lighting effect actually is a major component of the photo. It provides the mood and the distance between the subjects. While the setup was not complex it did require the understanding of the cause and effect of different lights and modifiers.

If you are photographer, make sure you are aware of the consequences of how lighting effects your images. Many of, what I call the big box studios, have a relatively static lighting setup for portraits. Often the studio lights are suspended from tracks and have limited mobility. This means that custom setups are not easy to achieve and as a result portraits tend to have the same look and feel.

As a person looking for a photographer, be sure you select someone that knows how to craft the image you are looking for. This means the photographer not only understands the technical aspects, but also has the artistic vision to produce a remarkable image.