When lighting photography portrait basics, it is necessary to know the function of all the assorted lights involved. These lighting patterns are thought of as standard patterns because they WORK and every photographer should totally understand them…

The main light’s usage in lighting photography portraits is to provide the base lighting. This is the one that you will usually read and use for your exposure settings.

To be a main or key source, it doesn’t have to actually be an expensive studio strobe. It could be naturally occuring light, your on camera flash , or even a reflector kicking illumination into the subject .

If you want to make your subject appear three dimensional rather than flat and lifeless , your main light should be off to the side so that shadows- on the opposing side of the face – are created.

Depending on the strength of your key light, the shadow area could be very deep and intense. In the main, this is not ideal. We will want to brighten the shadow so that features of the subject’s face are visible .

Enter the second or fill light. As before , this can be an additional studio strobe, ambient light, the camera’s flash or even a reflector bouncing light from the key light into the shadow areas.

The intensity of the fill light – relative to the key light – is what will decide the darkness and intensity of the shadows. A general rule of thumb is to have the fill light be about 1/2 the strength of the key light.

The 3rd light source is known as the background light, separation light, or hair light. It too can be any type of illumination . This third   light is used to make the subject stand out from the background.

This light can be turned away from the model and directlyonto the background, or aimed toward the subject – creating what’s called a rim light. Or it could be placed higher than the subject where it becomes a hair light.

This is the standard three light set up used in lighting photography portrait models in most photo studios around the world.

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The first, and most obvious, advantage of using a digital SLR will be in picture quality. You could compare a compact with, say, 7 megapixels, and an SLR with 3 megapixels, and assume the compact must produce better pictures. More megapixels equals higher quality, surely? Well, actually – no. Image sensors on compacts tend to be smaller than their DSLR equivalent – and having so many pixels squeezed tightly onto the sensors can create unwanted ‘noise’ – i.e. when looked at closer the photo will show up small dots or freckles.

Another advantage a DSLR gives is the ability to shoot and save your images in different formats. The well-known JPEG is catered for, but a DSLR will also enable you to save images in RAW format. Whilst these are usually large files when saved, the trade offs more than outweigh this. Firstly, a RAW image will produce improved quality and more detail than a JPEG. Also, when carrying out post-production in Photoshop or equivalent program, RAW images allow much more finely tuned manipulation, which can make a considerable difference to the final image. A good photography course online will provide further details on using RAW images.

A DSLR will be able to handle a wide range of photographic situations. This is possible due to the range of lenses you can choose from. You can attach a lens for any situation, confident that results are only constrained by your own personal skill and imagination. For example, you could add a telephoto lens if you want to get in close to a subject that is far away, or a wide angle lens to capture landscapes. Macro lenses enable you to get up close and personal to nature’s creatures, and can result in the most astonishing of photographs.

These are only a few examples of the advantages of using a DSLR. Certainly, if you are serious about your hobby, then a DSLR should be a serious consideration. When following a photography course online, there will be assignments that benefit from the increased quality and flexibility that a DSLR offers. All I would say is that once you have experienced a DSLR, you may not feel like using a compact camera again.

Mast Photography is where a camera is elevated from a fixed point on the ground using an extended pole or mast. This is often hydraulically operated although some manual systems still exist. Conventional Aerial Photography utilizes an aircraft such as a Cessna or a Robinson Helicopter. Both mast and conventional aerial photographic companies will often have their own extensive Aerial Photographic Library.

Although it would appear that mast photography would be lower cost it must be remembered that the photographer (with mast) must travel to the site and once at a site it takes time to set up the mast in each position. Due to these timely processes the price is often similar.

Event Photography is often undertaken using a combination of both mast photography and aerial photography due to the differences in the results. It also allows greater coverage and a much greater variety of angles.

Although some forms of Construction Photography benefit from mast photography large construction projects will often require conventional aerials as greater height will be needed. This is especially true if local transport links need to be included which may be several miles from the site. Progress Photography of building projects will often have a similar brief but ultimately the type of photography used will be dictated by the size of the site and the desired content.