Photographing through natural frames: using the lighting for effect: an illustrated guide

 This is a very difficult subject to address, we've already looked at natural framing and now we need to look at the lighting effects and difficulties such photography creates.

I'll refer you to another site presently and you'll see from a reader's comments how artificial lighting just did not give the effects he needed and sought so then it is necessary to acquire the necessary skills to achieve a satisfying image.

Sometimes you'll find you have silhouettes rather than what you are trying to capture and other times you might really want silhouettes but find it difficult to get the effect you want.

Many will be relying on your computerised settings and then it becomes very necessary to look at your camera manual and find suggestions there for such situations if your camera and the manual are up to the task.

Others will find the only way to get what they want is with a manual setting and possibly the use of a tripod, to control the apertures and to keep the camera quite steady otherwise you are at risk of obtaining more of a camera shake than the photographic effect allows.

There will be considerable variance between cameras and the price ranges of cameras but do ensure that what you achieve is the best possible effect your particular camera equipment allows.

I'm giving you a range of photos and I could find all too few of these to use on the web for the purposes of illustration but I'll keep a look out with Reuters and point you in due course to some particularly effective ones.

But nothing will provide more satisfactory results than trial and error and if you really want to extend your photographic skills you do need to put in a lot of effort, bearing in mind that professional photographers destroy the majority of photos they take, selecting only the best possible results.

You will need to recognize the phenomenon and as you journey about with your camera you need to be able to grasp the image as a photograph which appears before you.  Apertures through rocks are always a challenge as the light can play mean tricks but eventually you will learn to seize these as an opportunity for producing a specific effect.

I remember taking a very successful photograph in a Botanical gardens through a glass and wood framed doorway into an area of ferns and other botanical plants which was very effective.  The glass door led out into the open and the lighting was good but as the saying goes the harder I worked with my photography the luckier I got.  Seize the moment is my motto, it may never come again.

Of course, many professional photograohers will need to get a shot rather than the most artistic shot and on such occasions there may be no other choice but to artificially provide a range of light choices so that a shot is possible and acceptable professionally rather than a work of art that he would, if circumstances were different, prefer to create. 

As I said before this is not an easy area to cover in a hub or in fact in any written translation.  I just wish I had found it possible to have found more and better illustrations on the web.

But, as with all things, sometimes we need to compromise and come up with a solution, rather than the best solution.

But if you wish to be comprehensive in your skills you will need to practise with this one until such time as you manage to get it right.

So now I'll take you through the illustrations of the photos others have achieved and cared to share on the web.

Good luck and take your camera with you and as soon as your resources allow upgrade the standard of your camera.

Too many still just look at photos as pictures and the photographic detail is lost on them.  You must learn to use your mind just as you must with every new skill you acquire.

Here is the reference I referred to above

http://www.photographytips.com.au/light-techniques-and-framing-photography/