Key Lighting Tips to Take Better Photographs

In this day and age of digital cameras, you've probably heard or thought that all you have to do is push the button and great pictures magically appear. Not so fast. The fact of the matter is, you can have the best digital camera, but if you have no clue in what you are doing, you are gonna take horrible shots.

Well, I'd love to share with you some great advice in photography to help improve your skills. These tips are coming from years of experience as a wedding photographer. These tips all involve lighting and they are going to be some of the biggest keys to your success in taking your photos.

First tip you will use in regards to lighting. Now if the shots you are taking are outdoors during the day, some of the best lighting possible will be the natural sunlight. Now you are probably thinking, "that's easy, when you are a San Diego photographer since it is always shiny there", when in actuality really bright sunlight can cast harsh shadows. Or it will wash out the face details while the sun is overhead.

Overall, most of the shots you are going to want to take with the sun behind you. This stops any harsh shadows in your photo caused by the sun. But there will be some instances when you want to try different angles when you are trying to get some shadows into the shots.

Now that we have tackled the day shots, what if you are taking shots at night?

The trick to taking night shots is to turn off your flash. Now if it is pictch black, of course you will need it, but if there are some lighting, use it, but make sure the shutter speeds are slower to let the light in. Also, stay steady when you are taking your photograph or you will cause the picture to blur. Applying these couple of techniques will make a dramatic difference for those nights shots you take.

The third and final tip with using lighting to capture great photos is the golden hour. There is something photographers call the "golden hour" or magic hour, and that time is sunrise and sunset.

It is during this time of day when you will capture great shots that capture more warmer colors. You're going to be able to capture the golden lighting you won't find during any other part of the day.

There you go. Probably the biggest secret in taking great photographs is taking advantage of the natural lighting. Knowing what techniques to use for different parts of the day, or just scheduling a photo shoots to capture those times of day will help you become an excellent photographer.
Justin Keller is an experienced San Diego Wedding photographer.
He has been helping people capture those special moments as a San Diego based Photographer