Reading Response Chapter 8

Without a doubt one of the most crucial aspects of photography is of course, lighting. Lighting sets the mood of the entire photograph. Light captured in certain ways often tells a story, and it's important to know what kind of story you want to tell with the photograph. This chapter talks about how different lighting situations effect different scenes. It makes a huge difference if the lighting is directly on the subject or if it's diffused or directional. I personally tend to gravitate towards more direct lighting on my subjects because I like high contrast photos. I find that direct lighting has a much more dramatic and crisp effect. I think the most effective lighting source is natural light. However, sometimes natural sunlight can be a little over bearing and too bright, so it's great to incorporate other lighting sources. Adjusting the camera settings to each lighting situation is very important. The chapter talks about using a higher ISO when the light is dim, which is helpful because it means that you don't have to just wait for a sunny day to take photographs. It's possible to still have effective lighting even if the photo is shot in a darker setting. This chapter taught me that It's essential to invest in some nice studio lights and reflectors because it makes it so you can control the lighting situation to get any effect you prefer.