UNDERSTAND LIGHT AND COLOUR
Whether you’re out in nature or in a studio environment, the light quality also affects hues
Light and colour are intrinsically linked, and to get the results you desire it’s vital to understand how one impacts the other. In a studio or indoor environment, you can control the artificial lights and modifiers you use. When shooting natural scenes too however, you can control how colour is rendered by placing yourself in a particular lighting scenario – whether that means shooting at a particular location, in certain weather or at a specific time of year or day.
In clear conditions, during the early and late golden hours when the sun is close to the horizon, sunlight bathes everything in a deep orange and creates a warm cast. Further into the golden hour, colours start to become more distinct, vivid and vibrant. After sunrise, once the sun has cleared the horizon, it has a white and neutral colouration that makes it good for capturing subjects like flowers accurately. Moving to the middle of a clear day, bright sunlight has a bleaching effect that causes hues to look relatively dull.
At twilight, colours are also fairly dull, but still distinct. Then, towards total darkness, colours become almost non-existent, or take on a greyish-blue tinge.
After time of day, you’ll need to consider the weather conditions. On a very cloudy day or in strong shade, images take on a grey, dull tinge. On a foggy day, the further away you are from the subject and the thicker the fog, the more the original colours are lost.
Artificial lighting is a tricky topic to cover, as there are a myriad of situations you might be presented with. The effect depends on the light source’s distance, as well as its direction in relation to what you’re photographing. As a general rule, colours that are closer to a light source appear brighter and bolder, whereas those further away get duller.
When your scene is lit by many different lights (all with varying temperatures), it’s best to set your white balance to Auto mode. One way to control the colour of light – both indoors and outside – is by using modifiers. For example, reflectors can come with neutral or gold coatings, or gels can be added to flash guns to introduce vibrant hues.