yellow photos
Shooting in Artificial Light-Do your family pictures come out yellow when shooting indoors?
Artificial lighting is not always as fun and easy as sunlight, but you can use it to create some wonderful photographs once you know how.
Indoor lighting is often fluorescent and tungsten bulbs. Tungsten bulbs are used by professional photographers, as “hot lights” because of the high temperature they produce. In photography it is important to understand the temperature scale in relation to the colors they will produce. A hot light will produce more red and reduce the blue. Firelight and candle light though not artificial can be used in doors to create shadows and depth.
When using indoor lights, specifically artificial light you will need to understand exposure. When you have less light it will take longer to expose the film to capture a photograph. First in a darker room where you have direct light on the object you will not want to use the flash. The flash will bounce the light back at the picture. The next step is to get as close to the subject or object as possible. The third consideration is the angle. Taking the picture head on of the object will bounce the light and shadows about. You will need to angle the camera to the side or up from the ground to attain the photograph. Shooting any subject head on is likely to create shadows and take away from the print. The best angle for shooting portraits is often up into the face.
When shooting faces or other objects you usually want a three dimensional contrast. You will need to search for the planes and contours of the subject, especially in portrait photography. The planes and contours will help you determine the angle you will shoot the subject from. The shadows will often provide the three dimensional contrast if you find the correct planes and angle to shoot from. This helps with pictures that you want to stand-alone.
Artificial lighting needs to be movable. Just turning on your home lights will not give you the desired affect. Instead it can wash out the subject, place the light at the wrong angle, or create too much shadow in one area. You need to have lights set up on tripods to change the angle to suit your needs. Rooms are small which is one reason over head lights can either be too powerful or not direct enough. Following lighting tips will increase your photography skills. Most amateur photographers find taking a class on lighting and having a few books on the subject will help them learn proper lighting techniques.
As for that yellow or pink cast that you sometimes get when shooting indoors, white balance, white balance, white balance. There is a setting on your camera that probably says WB. That is the white balance setting. Most people never touch this setting unless you are a professional photographer. The white balance set on auto can produce a yellow cast to your pictures. This is easily remedied by taking a custom white balance before you start shooting. All you really need is a white peice of paper. Read your manual and this can solve most of those indoor problems.
Artificial lighting has advantages over outdoor or natural lighting, but sometimes the picture turns out better with natural light. It might be a matter of preference or the desire of a subject for that matter. You never have artificial lighting outside for the most part; you usually rely on your camera flash to help with the picture quality. When you choose your lighting, look for the best lighting situation to enhance your subject and make your picture as natural as possible.
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