Lighting
Diffuse directional light brings out contours
You need to know a little bit about lighting so that you can get the best possible representation of the colour and form of your craftwork.
Most cameras have an automatic setting that adjusts to the lighting conditions (Auto White Balance). You may also be able to set your camera manually (see your camera instruction manual!). Using manual settings is usually more accurate than using the auto settings
Lighting success depends on three qualities of light:
Light source: light can be direct, reflected or diffused. Direct light can be very harsh. Reflected or diffused light work best with craft items. The photo above was taken near a window on the shady side of the house, so soft light was coming in from one source. Sidelight can bring out contours, but diffused side light is better for our purposes than direct side light.
Amount of light: too much light can bleach out colours and causes too great a contrast between areas of dark and light; too little light will make for flattened contrast and dull, greyed-off colour.
Ambient light types:
Most cameras have an automatic setting that adjusts to the lighting conditions (Auto White Balance). You may also be able to set your camera manually (see your camera instruction manual!). Using manual settings is usually more accurate than using the auto settings
Lighting success depends on three qualities of light:
- colour temperature (don't be afraid!)
- source (direction and hardness)
- amount of available light
Light source: light can be direct, reflected or diffused. Direct light can be very harsh. Reflected or diffused light work best with craft items. The photo above was taken near a window on the shady side of the house, so soft light was coming in from one source. Sidelight can bring out contours, but diffused side light is better for our purposes than direct side light.
Amount of light: too much light can bleach out colours and causes too great a contrast between areas of dark and light; too little light will make for flattened contrast and dull, greyed-off colour.
Ambient light types:
- Daylight: the best daylight for craft photography is indirect light. Don't take photos in bright sunlight as it will bleach out the colours. Dappled shade is even worse - it makes blotchy shadows and overly bright patches all over the place. Daylight changes colour over the course of each day and can cause strong colour casts, such as orange at sunset.
- Shade: still daylight, the actual colour of shade can be affected by reflection from nearby objects such as curtains, buildings and trees. On a clear day outdoor shade will be noticeably blue in a photograph. Indoor shade near windows is often the best way to photograph craft, as long as you take care to avoid any likely colour reflections.
- Tungsten (normal light bulbs): tungsten light is red/orange, skewing colours very badly. If you want to use tungsten to photograph your craft, you must set your camera to the tungsten (light bulb)setting.
- Fluorescent: these lights come in different colours (usually cooler - think blue, purple, green)- you will have to experiment with your settings (if they are available) to see which of the settings works the best. Energy saving bulbs are usually fluorescent.
- Modern low energy L.E.D and halogen lighting may give different colour casts which are not covered by your camera settings (but increasingly are). These colours may need to be corrected using software.
Using natural light
Outdoors in the shade on a sunny day
Natural light has several advantages: it's free, readily available and gives perfect colour reproduction on the daylight, cloudy or shade settings offered on most cameras. Craft items usually suit soft, diffused light. You can set up these conditions in several different ways. This photo was taken outdoors in shade near a white wall - luckily my house is quite reflective and brilliant white. If you are lucky enough to have such conditions, wait until the adjacent wall is in shade, set out your item and snap away. There is a slight blue colour cast in the photo, caused by reflected sky light. This can be corrected easily using software.
When shooting indoors, You can use a large sheet of white paper or card to reflect window light onto your work. Using cardboard, you can reflect at any angle - it depends where you direct the light from the cardboard. You can create frontal or side light, or use more than one sheet to create overall lighting. The further from the window the cardboard is, the less light will be reflected from it. You can experiment with different materials: a sheet of polystyrene gives a softer reflection (because it has an uneven surface) than cardboard.
If you want to bring out contours in your work, use sidelight, which will emphasize the sculptural elements of an object. It will, however, give too great a contrast if you're not careful. Harsh sidelight (say from a sunny window) can be moderated by using a piece of white netting or translucent cloth over the window to break up the light and soften it. Shadow areas can be filled in by using a reflector.
When shooting indoors, You can use a large sheet of white paper or card to reflect window light onto your work. Using cardboard, you can reflect at any angle - it depends where you direct the light from the cardboard. You can create frontal or side light, or use more than one sheet to create overall lighting. The further from the window the cardboard is, the less light will be reflected from it. You can experiment with different materials: a sheet of polystyrene gives a softer reflection (because it has an uneven surface) than cardboard.
If you want to bring out contours in your work, use sidelight, which will emphasize the sculptural elements of an object. It will, however, give too great a contrast if you're not careful. Harsh sidelight (say from a sunny window) can be moderated by using a piece of white netting or translucent cloth over the window to break up the light and soften it. Shadow areas can be filled in by using a reflector.
 Strong sidelight bleaches out colours and creates deep shadow area |
 Camera flash floods the subject, causing harsh reflections, flattening contours and bleaching out colour |