Lighting How To

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Ron Leach  |  Jul 05, 2017  | 

Whether you’re shooting indoor portraits by window light or using available light outdoors, an inexpensive reflector is one of best tools for dramatically improving your results. In the five-minute video below, photographer Mark Cleghorn demonstrates everything you need to know to get the job done.

Ron Leach  |  Nov 14, 2017  | 

If you’ve been following our product reviews, you know that one of the benefits of today’s advanced lenses is that they are designed to minimize lens flare, ghosting and other stray light artifacts. But what if you could use these light anomalies to create attractive portraits with a unique look?

Ron Leach  |  Feb 28, 2018  | 

The eye-opening video below is the latest in a series of tutorials by a British pro, demonstrating how to recognize good light and use it to create dynamic imagery. In this episode, photographer Sean Tucker explains how to use reflected light when shooting on the street.

Ron Leach  |  Mar 09, 2018  | 

It’s easy to become intimidated by the myriad of lighting methods available, especially if you’re a photographer who likes to shoot with natural light. And if there’s only one lighting technique you need to understand, you’ll find it in the five-minute video below.

Ron Leach  |  Feb 07, 2019  | 

Hand-held light meters seems to have fallen out of favor as most photographers have made the switch from film to digital. But these powerful tools can be just as important today, as they were with our 35mm cameras.

Ron Leach  |  Mar 07, 2023  | 

What if we told you there’s an easy-to-used tool that helps nail exposure with every image you shoot? There is, and it’s called the histogram. Unfortunately it’s often overlooked.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Dec 27, 2024  | 

Whether the holidays bring out your “Humbug!” or your “Ho, ho, ho!” there’s one thing you must admit: it’s the most colorful season of the year. Except maybe for spring. And autumn. Anyway, all seasonal colors are just begging to be zoomed, blurred and pleasantly smeared. Smartphone users: you can play too.

Ron Leach  |  Jun 22, 2023  | 

Yesterday we featured a primer on exposure bracketing, explaining how to get the light right by shooting three images of the same scene, and merging them during the editing process. Today you'll learn how nail exposure in the camera by using the oft-ignored histogram that you can set to appear on the rear LCD.

Ron Leach  |  Nov 01, 2023  | 

Getting the light right is perhaps the most essential component of all great images, whether they're captured indoor or out. But there's another crucial component that can really add depth and impact to a photo, namely the thoughtful use of shadows.

Ron Leach  |  Jul 03, 2023  | 

If you're unsure sure how to use a camera's White Balance settings to modify the look of an image, the quick tutorial below is just what you need to eliminate the confusion. You'll also receive a clear answer to this common question: "WTF  are Kelvins?"

Shutterbug Staff  |  Jan 31, 2018  | 

Photographer Gary Daniels captured this epic image during this year’s July 4th celebrations in Addison, Texas. The plane is a World War II-era B-25H Mitchell bomber from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, which was taxiing on the runway just as fireworks were going off behind it. 

Ron Leach  |  May 17, 2023  | 

There’s one constant when shooting outdoor photographs: You’re always at the mercy of Mother Nature, and she’s anything but predictable. So you have two choices when weather is threatening or the light is less that ideal. You can either learn how to deal with it or go home.

Ron Leach  |  Jan 19, 2021  | 

One often overlooked technique for improving outdoor photographs is using a your camera’s built-in flash or a more powerful external unit for filling in shadows, adding sparkle to a subject’s eyes and much more. If you think this requires complicated camera and flash settings, read on.

Henry Anderson  |  Aug 18, 2021  | 

A lingerie photo shoot might sound simple to some photographers. Put a model in lingerie and click the shutter. That's all there is to it, right?

Ron Leach  |  Apr 05, 2023  | 

We thought we’d start the day with a fun short-and-sweet” technique for embellishing photos with sunstars captured in the camera. So pull up a chair, watch the two-minute video below, and see how it’s done.

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