If we look back at albums a decade old, we will most definitely find a dozen pictures, which are either too dark or too bright. The perfect portrait pictures, would nine of ten times be the work of a professional photograph or something you clicked at a photo studio. Because ultimately it takes someone who understands the importance of light and how to use it right, to take an image that is appropriately lit. The use of light in a photograph can be the deciding factor of whether that picture will be spectacular or terrible. When you use your camera to automatically choose aperture and shutter speed, what your camera is actually doing is using the built in light meter and measuring how much light is being reflected to the camera.

But this alone will not ensure you have enough light. You also need to consider the angle of the light entering the frame, what kind of shadows you want, and whether you want to use fill-in-flash (using flash to light the subject if you have a really bright background). For instance, if you are shooting at night you can create all sorts of cool effects like lights in motion, pictures with moonlight, or silhouettes. Here we look at some lighting methods that can give you some cool and interesting images.

Angle of light
The angle of light should be taken into careful consideration whenever you feel like you want to create a specific effect. Shadows can be very powerful when cast over half of someone's face. When you are deciding which angle you would prefer to have the light coming from you are indirectly deciding where the shadows will be cast. The angle of light can be used to show texture if it is coming from the side because shadows create the effect of more depth. It can add detail and mystery to someone’s face if you choose to keep half of their face in the shadows. The most commonly committed mistake is to take portrait pictures with the light coming directly from the back of the subject. This results in the subject’s face becoming dark, while the background is bright and overexposed.

Light rays effect
The effect of rays of light indoors and outdoors can be very spectacular. A brilliant part of some great photographs is the ability to actually see rays of light in a photo. Whether it is in the setting of a brilliant sunset, light pouring through a window or light from artificial lights, almost all kinds have the potential to look amazing. Usually the only way to obtain something like this is a narrow aperture (high f/stop) and a very slow shutter speed. My personal favourite is to capture rays of light in architectural photography where the light is streaming through windows or spaces.