There’s a great article titled 9 Lighting Types to Harness & Improve Your Photography. Here’s an excert from the article:

In my previous article “Make the Best of Bad Weather - 6 Challenges for Photographers” I noted how photography is all about the light. Sounds easy enough on the surface but as photographers we tend to be subject focused rather than light focused. What I mean by that is we’ll see something unique or different and focus on that rather than the lighting and resulting exposure needed to transform your subject. The right lighting can make or break an image setting the stage for others to see it as a snapshot or a photograph.

It’s a great read offering a lot of lighting tips and reiterating some thing that you may already know, but perhaps have neglected. The article is written by Jim Goldstein (of JMG Galleries), a regular contributor to my favorite photography site, The Digital Photography School.

Read the full article: 9 Lighting Types to Harness & Improve Your Photography

Dinosaur Park: Wethersfield, CT - A bridge above a swamp makes for a great photo opportunity. Ahead is my wife (carrying my camera bag - don’t remember why). Our friends are actually not far ahead - but you can’t see them through the thicket that is soon to hide my wife as well.

Fun times had by all, and no one seemed to mind that I had the camera in my hand most of the time (or so I believe, anyhow).

This photo actually wasn’t premeditated. My career is in Landscape Architecture, and I often visit sites when writing proposals. This particular photograph is from a site on the Villanova University campus and I had no intention of taking any artistic photos that day. Ordinarily, with a shot like this, I would’ve preferred to use a Circular Polarizer - but I didn’t have it with me. I still think it turned out okay, but it could’ve been better.

I learned something and was reminded of another from this photograph. First, I learned that I should always travel with my complete kit (filters included). As I mentioned, this photograph would’ve been much better if I had my filters handy. As for the reminder - when I have my camera with me, I need to continuously look out for opportunities: Up, down, all around. This particular window was a dormer window on the fourth story (attic) of the theater building, Vasey Hall. Never would’ve seen it if I didn’t let my eyes wander.

PS - my charger arrived, so my laptop is back in action.

I have a bunch of pictures just waiting to be formatted and posted up here for your enjoyment. Unfortunately, I am the victim of the rare Laptop Fire. Alright, so I’m exaggerating just a bit - the laptop itself never caught fire. But my AC Adapter did. Regardless of what actually burned, I can’t use my laptop until my new adapter arrives in the mail (hopefully this weekend). But there is a lesson to be learned here: Redundancy and care.

First, lets talk redundancy. Backups are something that you should make a priority. Chances are, you may not need to go back to your backups ever. But you have a lot to lose if you caught without backups of your precious data. External Hard Drives are pretty cheap these days, they are definately a worthwhile investment. It’s also a good idea to burn backups to CDs or tape backups (just be aware, both have a set shelf life). If you can get it to an off-site location, that is best - just in case the horrible happens to your home (fire, flood, etc), you want to know you can get it all back. This is your livelihood after all. If you can afford it, a safe deposit box or an internet backup service are great solutions.

As for care, it’s always good to take care of your equipment. This isn’t something I really need to remind you of, after all you may have spent a grand on your camera. But there are little things you don’t always think about that you should consider. Lets take my AC adapter, for example. The fire was caused because the wires broke inside the protective rubber sheathing. Looking back, I may have wrapped up my cables too tightly and the repetitive stress at a certain point must’ve caused it to break. When I get my new pack, I will make a conscious effort to keep the cables loosely gathered in a loop (as opposed to bending the wires back on themselves).

This could’ve been a serious problem. It could’ve caught my house on fire. Thank goodness I was there. So I’ll count my blessings and consider this a warning. Hopefully I’ll be back in action this weekend and I will post some new photos soon.

Photography is the documentation of light. Documentation of light requires proper exposure of your shot. To achieve the proper exposure, one needs to meter the subject effectively. Thanks to technology, long gone are the days where a photographer is required to use an external light meter, apply some math and possibly some guesswork. The advent of in-camera metering and the improvement of lens technology has made the world of photography much easier for the hobby photographer.

Understanding how your camera’s metering system works will make a dramatic difference in you photography. There are generally three types of metering methods: Average Metering, Center Weighted Metering and Spot Metering. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each is important as a photographer. It will help you set up your shot properly and get the best exposure. Below is a break-down of each.

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