Learning to Use my DSLR – Practical Photography Tutorials
Despite the snow and cold weather, the sun was strong, so I thought I’d take a look at one of the things you can do to improve your indoor pictures. One of the most fundamental aspects of photography is lighting. Although you can get some interesting effects by taking your photograph into the light, typically you want to yourself with the strongest light source behind you and your subject facing the light. This applies to any kind of camera, not just DSLRs.
Taking advantage of some natural lighting can make your photos much better without having to make any adjustments to your camera. However, if you try to take a picture of your kids right under a bright window the resulting photograph is less than awesome.
Sometimes positioning the light behind one shoulder can be really pretty.
But I found today that the light was just just too bright. So I moved Gordie so he was facing the window.
Without using any kind of flash, he’s well lit and the colors are great.
Here’s another example with Nicole in the center of the room. This time she stayed in the same spot and only I moved.
Bad picture with the window behind her:
Even worse picture with the window behind her:
Much better picture with the window behind me:
It can also be important to think about what your subject is wearing. Nicole looks adorable wearing this little white dress but it provides an extra challenge when taking her picture.
When she’s in front of the window it doesn’t make much of a difference:
But with her close to the window and the light behind my shoulder, the dress is a little bright.
If I set her back a few more feet from the window the photograph looked a lot better even though the light was still over my shoulder.
Just to demonstrate that this principle holds true for other cameras as well, here’s a couple I took with my iphone:
Showing off my new skills:
Leave a Reply