The basic
principle of photography is the art of capturing light reflected from objects
we desire to display.
Light
sources will vary along the roadside from faint early morning light just before
the sun comes over the horizon, or evening sunlight after the sun sets below
the horizon to bright midday sun. The brightness and intensity of light may vary
over a broad spectrum of conditions such as time of day, cloud cover, season
and angle of the sun to the object.
Capturing
the correct amount of light at the cameras light sensor is essential for a high
quality image. Most digital cameras have a built in light meter that senses the
correct amount of light and makes adjustments to the shutter speed and aperture
setting to allow for just the right amount of light to enter the camera lens.
This happens when the camera mode setting is in “Auto”. Shutter speed and
aperture settings are the two elements that regulate the amount of light
captured. Too much light will cause the image to “wash out” or become too light
to be of any real quality. On the flip side, not enough light will cause the
image to be to dark and indiscernible. More experienced photographers will use a”Manual”
setting for proper light exposure. Most daytime photography will allow for the
Auto setting but when shooting night scenes along the roadside using Manual
settings can oft times be most necessary due to the need for longer exposure
times in order to allow the sensor to capture the adequate amount of light
needed for proper exposure. However over time and through experience you will
learn that even in day time sun light, there will be time when you will need to
make manual adjustments such as to compensate for subjects that are in the
shadows or when the background is very bright in comparison with the subject or
on the flip side, when the subject is very light as compared to the background
or when it is overcast
The angle at
which the light falls upon the subject is also important when shooting along
the roadside. It has been said in times past to keep the sun at your back when
shooting outdoor photos. This is called “Front lighting” when the sun shines
directly on the subject from behind the photographer. This may not be the best
angle for shooting. Direct front light on a subject tends to give it a flat one
dimensional appearance which does not make for the best quality photo. Light
that falls on the subject from a side angle give the photo more depth and
texture. The best vertical angles are from sunrise to 10am and from 2pm to
sunset. Since many roadside subjects are stationary the horizontal angles are
only changeable be the daily change in the location of the sun with respect
with the changing of the seasons. So there will be time when it Is advantageous
to go to a roadside location several times a month or several times a year to
get a variety of horizontal angles of light.
One of the marvelous things about the development
of the digital camera is that you can take many pictures at varied exposures
and settings to observe and learn what your camera is doing and then delete all
the unsatisfactory images