Learn to Understand Lighting for Photography

Using light requires an understanding of physics, equipment technology and artistic composition; all blended together.

This course is balanced to teach you all of these three things.

Course Structure and Content

This course has 8 lessons, together with 8 assignments, spread over approximately 100 hours of study.

Lesson 1.  Light Characteristics and Lighting Concepts

• Intensity
• Colour Temperature
• Incident or Reflected Light
• Exposure Readings
• Light Management
• Planning Ideas
• Learn from experience
• Adjusting light for digital or choosing film
• Curves
  
  

Lesson 2.  Understanding Sensitometry and the Zone System

• Sensitometry
• The Subject
• Blackness of Image
• Transmission
• Opacity
• Density
• Scatter
• Callier Coefficient
• Characteristic Curve
• The Zone System
• Using the Zone System
• Controlling Contrast
• Equipment and Film
• Exposing shadows
• Processing Highlights
  
  

Lesson 3.  Light Sources

• Natural and Artificial Light Sources
• Properties of Light Sources
• Copy Lighting
• Flash Photography
• Electronic Flash (Manual, Computer, Dedicated)
• Flash Synchronisation
• Flash Problems (eg. Red eye)
• Mixing Flash and Daylight
  
  

Lesson 4.  Meters and Filters

• Measuring light (centre weighted system, Spot reading meter)
• Problems with different meters
• Backlit Subjects
• Filters

Lesson 5.  Other Equipment for Lighting

• Reflectors
• Problems with Aluminised Reflectors
• Reflector attachments
• Diffusers
• Tripods and Stands
• Specialised Light Sources (Spots, Cyclorama lights, Part lights,
• Stroboscopic lights, Ring lights)
• Backgrounds
• Digital Cameras
  
  

Lesson 6.  Contrast and Composition

• Introduction
• Subject Contrast
• Lighting Contrast
• Brightness Range
• Exposure Compensation
• Ways of Assessing Composition
• Compensating for Reflected Glare
• Compensating for Lens Flare
  
  

Lesson 7.  Studio Lighting

• Portrait Studio Lighting
• Working with studio lights
• Creating lighting effects
• Background lighting
• Mixed lighting
• The Basic studio
• Additional lighting equipment
• Special techniques (Fashion lighting, Butterfly lighting, Lighting still life, etc)
  
  

Lesson 8.  On-Location Lighting

• Outdoor lighting effects
• Time of Day
• Weather
• Excessive outdoor light
• Night photography
• Underwater Photography
• Creating Intense Colour
• Rain forest Photography
• Photographing Cars
• Special Techniques (High speed, Intermittent capture, etc)
• Lighting Plants
• On location Photo Skills