It's All about the Light

Radiologist at Emory University Hospital, Atlanta. The objective was to balance the supplemental light  with the illumination from the screens to create a natural look. The light source was a flash unit bounced into a white umbrella on the right side of the frame.

In commercial photography the indispensable skill is the ability to use light.

A landscape photographer working outdoors is pretty much stuck with the light that Mother Nature provides. Sometimes things can be improved a bit by moving around, finding another angle, or possibly coming back at a different time or even another day when the quality of the light is more favorable.

A journalistic photographer has to take the light as he finds it, although sometimes he may be able to supplement it with flash. The best journalistic photographers and some wedding photographers are almost wizards at making the existing light work for them.

The commercial photographer has to find a way to create the light he wants, when and where he wants it. In fact, this is the skill that separates the men from the boys in commercial photography, or perhaps I should say the successful from the unsuccessful. 

Good lighting doesn't just make the subject easier to see. It molds, reveals, and defines the form of things, differentiating between subject and background, bringing out color and texture, depth and contrast. Whether the subject is a portrait, a product, or a room interior, lighting is the key. 

The skillful commercial photographer has an arsenal of lighting tools and knows how to use them: large and small flash units, floodlights, spotlights, and LED panels, as well as umbrellas and softboxes to soften and modulate the light as the photographer chooses. He also knows how to use and supplement available light when it's available. And because so many situations create new challenges, photographic lighting is a lifelong learning experience.

As one old photographer signed himself, "Always fighting the light."

 This was an illustration for a printing company's advertising. I used a gold seamless paper background and put a floodlight above and behind the book.

 

About the equipment: For the radiologist, I used a Canon EOS 10D digital camera with the Canon EF 28-70L lens. The book was photographed with a Hasselblad 500CM film camera with an 80mm Zeiss lens and Fujichrome 100 film.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2025 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     digital photography    film photography     Canoon EOS 10D camera     Canon EF 28-70L lens Fujichrome 100 film     commercial photography    photographic lighting     Hasselblad 500CM camera    Zeiss 80mm f2.8 lens