Questions tagged [light]

The word photography means "drawing with light". Controlling or selecting the light a camera records is essential to all aspects of photographic composition.

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Why are my film photos coming out so dark, even in bright sunlight?

I shoot with an Olympus OM-1n, 50mm Zuiko lens on Kodak Gold 200 film. It was a bright, sunny day so I was shooting with the following: Aperture: f/16 Shutter speed: 1/1000 ISO: 200 The photos were ...
turnip's user avatar
  • 193
3 votes
4 answers
530 views

How exactly does an incident light meter determine the exposure?

I am struggling to understand what is going on inside the logic of an incident light meter in order to determine the exposure as opposed to a reflective light meter. I understand that a reflective ...
Leo's user avatar
  • 31
15 votes
8 answers
1k views

Why does the distance from light to subject affect exposure (inverse square law) while from subject to lens does not?

Suppose I have a setup with 1 light source, 1 subject to be photographed, and 1 camera. Keeping all parameters constant, if the light source gets closer to the subject, it will be more exposed, ...
Flight's user avatar
  • 153
3 votes
1 answer
365 views

What determines the image circle diameter?

Anywhere in the web it's stated that the image circle diameter depends on the lens design. I'm curious to understand it a bit better. Let's start with basics. Let's consider a single thin lens ...
Kinka-Byo's user avatar
  • 504
4 votes
7 answers
2k views

What's causing this blow-out of neon lights? (SL2 vs a7c)

My friend and I took near-identical photos of the same neon light sign. I'm on a Canon SL2 with a 50mm prime with f1.8. He's using a Sony a7c with an 85mm f1.4 lens. Looking at the images a bit more ...
IronWaffleMan's user avatar
10 votes
6 answers
2k views

Why should we be interested at incident metering?

Everyone says that incident metering is clearly better than reflective metering because the first one measures the real light on the subject, and not that reflected by its (which depends on its ...
Irhueb's user avatar
  • 109
0 votes
3 answers
333 views

Why are there Lux - EV conversion tables, and not Lux Seconds - EV conversion table?

As far as I'm concerned, Exposure Value is measured in Lux seconds. However, I see everywhere the conversion formula: Lux = 2.5 x 2^EV So, for instance, EV = 0 means 2.5 Lux. Where are seconds?
Kinka-Byo's user avatar
  • 504
0 votes
3 answers
148 views

Do photographic lens show virtual image if the subject distance is less than focal length?

A convex thin lens produces a real inverted image if the subject distance from the lens is higher than the focal lens. If it is lower, the image will be virtual. Of course a virtual image appears on ...
Kinka-Byo's user avatar
  • 504
1 vote
3 answers
178 views

Why are dedicated light meters supposed to be independent on the sensor?

As I have understood by this question, an exposure value of a certain scenario cought from a digital sensor (CCD or CMOS) results from: the scenario luminance the sensor sensitivity the ISO, shutter ...
Kinka-Byo's user avatar
  • 504
0 votes
1 answer
412 views

How do you prevent lines on a brighter spot on an image and how to sharpen the moon?

I am shooting on a OnePlus 9 and was trying to get some nice night lake pictures, but kept getting these lines. Is there a way to prevent these and also sharpen up the moon? I want to get better at ...
Gavin's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
78 views

Uneven tint gradient on photo taken on reprostation

I take photos with my Canon 20D on a Kaiser Reprostand of books for publication, lectures or documentation. I get sometimes uneven/gradient lightning, especially when using a white background. When ...
SEJU's user avatar
  • 123
1 vote
3 answers
240 views

Is it true that a camera sensor will never receive an RGB value of R 0 G 255 B 0?

I read this: https://therefractedlight.blogspot.com/2010/09/imaginary-and-impossible-colors.html "there are no green colors whatsoever which do not also stimulate your red or blue cells, or even ...
ACrypticFish's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
3k views

Are mirrors viable as replacement for light sources?

I'm thinking about making a macro photo setup with many light sources (up to 10). It's not viable to buy 10 flashes, even cheap ones. It's more viable to buy 10 cheap lights, but it would lead to such ...
Gill Bates's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
1k views

Why does my developed 35mm film have stripes of light on the photos?

I'm a relatively new user of film, getting back into it after a few years. I've had the first B&W 35mm film developed and there are vertical stripes of light on lots of the photos - often in the ...
Rae's user avatar
  • 11
2 votes
3 answers
234 views

Get correct focus on low light with modelling light

I'm looking for a good way to get "perfect" focus on lower light environment. I'm doing product photography (top down) of textiles with two flashes. The flashes have a model light (is that ...
jona's user avatar
  • 123
1 vote
2 answers
61 views

How to get coloured background lights and foreground person in creative portrait shootings exposed equally?

Let's say I am shooting indoors in a small room. I have some lights in the background, like an LED strip, without much possibility of changing them around. Now I want to photograph a person in front ...
Haris's user avatar
  • 267
0 votes
1 answer
133 views

Can this kind of lighting take good photos of perfume products with some effects

I want to buy lighting to take pictures of perfume and glass products in general, But there is an effect that I like like the pictures below and I want to take something similar. I found this product ...
HiSoKa's user avatar
  • 5
1 vote
1 answer
117 views

Best settings to Shoot best dynamic range - Shoots like the human eye sees the details and the contrast between the bright light and the outside

I want to shoot a photography but the image looks too bright or too dark. TOO BRIGHT HERE TOO DARK HERE Here I made some editing (I combined these two photo into one ) to show how it seen through ...
diniulian's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
2 answers
145 views

Help with lights in photos

first, I apologize for the writing of this post, since I do not speak English and I am still learning it My photos come out this way, I think it is the lens that is dirty, but I am not sure, I would ...
Adán Navarro's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
180 views

Comparing the amount of light on different sized sensors

A mirco four thirds sensor (crop factor 2.0) gathers the same amount of light with a F/2.0 lens compared to a fullframe sensor with a F/4.0 lens since the area of the sensor is four times smaller. If ...
Arji's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
710 views

Umbrellas: what's the difference between white ones and silver ones?

I understand that golden reflective umbrellas are usefull to get warmer light. But, what's the difference between white reflective umbrellas and silver umbrellas? Do silver umbrellas also change the ...
vsis's user avatar
  • 1,251
27 votes
3 answers
5k views

What's the point in covering the viewfinder?

Recently, I found out that the rubber cover on the strap of my Canon EOS camera is used to cover the viewfinder. I searched on the web to learn why should I cover the viewfinder and I read that it ...
ainnnmanir's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
304 views

RAW Photo of the Moon - How to take pictures of objects in front of a (bright) moon?

I have an object in front of the moon and I wanted to take a RAW (NRW) photo including the moon and the object in front, thinking that I can fix the illumination/overexposure later in Lightroom. But I ...
ChrisB's user avatar
  • 141
4 votes
4 answers
167 views

Light source giving wrong color

I have been trying most of the settings in my Nikon D3500 to take indoor pictures of my home in dusk situation, or at least what you think is dusk situation, it is hard to explain. I have a very ...
Sebastian's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
141 views

Light diffuser to mix colours - does it exist?

Say I need a light box to emulate natural light. I have 9 white sources of light and few colored ones. The sources are LED panels 4x10cm so its not a point light (there are no individual LEDs - the ...
Boppity Bop's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
391 views

Dark images problem (low exposure) with canon 650d

I have a canon 650d, recently the camera is taking dark photos (low exposure) I always use good settings/standard, but somehow it started giving dark images in the picture below I was under a strong ...
NiithDZ's user avatar
  • 13
1 vote
3 answers
307 views

Does light hardness affect color saturation?

I've read in couple of sources that level of hardness of light affects color saturation somehow - harder the light more saturated colors are. Is this actually true or not?
Gill Bates's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
425 views

How to dismantle this small octagonal softbox?

I need help to dismantle a softbox. The model is an Elinchrom 22" Portalite octagonal softbox. From memory it was exceptionally difficult to assemble and now I'm finding it so impossible to ...
AutoBaker's user avatar
  • 620
3 votes
2 answers
972 views

Can I damage my camera by shooting directly at a lightbulb in the ceiling?

I got my first dSLR, a Nikon D3500, a few weeks ago. Today I was trying out manual mode and for some reason I thought it would be cool to shoot pointing directly at the lamp/lightbulb in the ceiling ...
debbie's user avatar
  • 31
1 vote
1 answer
105 views

Which stand or adapter for Colorspike light fixture?

I have these ColorSpike lights that I want to put on a stand. They come with a stand adapter that ends with a 5/8" male stud. So now I am confused: apparently, usually these studs appear on the ...
Jean-Denis Muys's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
134 views

What's the point of this "reflector" that comes with my Godox SL-150W Light?

I can't figure out what this piece that came with my Godox SL-150W is supposed to do. It doesn't seem to be mentioned in the manual that came with it, but I might have missed it due to not knowing the ...
Jake's user avatar
  • 117
0 votes
1 answer
63 views

measure luminanace with lux meter

can we measure luminance in cd/ m² with a lux meter? I measured illuminance of 35 lux. and since cd = lux*distance² I took some distance of 30 cm and got 3.15 cd. I know that my led-grid surface is ...
yuri's user avatar
  • 3
5 votes
6 answers
555 views

Would there be a noticeable difference between long exposure and brighter light?

If I take one photo with long exposure and dimmer lights (e.g. constant lighting) and then another photo with short exposure but lights brighter to the level enough to compensate for the shorter ...
Gill Bates's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
87 views

Best Flat Light Diffuser for a High-Intensity Flashlight

I am doing some experimentation with a compact lighting kit to use for capturing textures, hence some constraints. I am using a high-intensity flashlight like the Acebeam X80-GT placed at a 1-3m ...
Joseph Azzam's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
691 views

What is the effect of relative size of light source vs diffusion on the quality of light?

I have used large softboxes for my portraiture quite a while with good success. However, I come across the topic of diffusion vs size of the light source quite often. While I know, that the relative ...
Kai Mattern's user avatar
  • 4,099
0 votes
2 answers
139 views

How are these photos got same color flavor and look so similar?

I'm trying to understand, how all these photos got the same color flavor. The main problem I see - they are all shot under very different lighting conditions - like inside of a flat and on a sunny ...
Evgeniy's user avatar
  • 181
1 vote
1 answer
545 views

What might have caused this Leica M6 light leak?

I just bought a Leica M6 a week ago, and developed the first and second roll I took. The photos in the first roll showed no problem, but the in the second roll, the first, second, and third photo is ...
James yolo's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
270 views

What is the cause of a dimmer image of a light source in a photo? [duplicate]

Why does an image of the panel appear to left side of the actual object when the picture is taken if the lamp in a switched on state?
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
39 views

Nikon d7100 top lcd ligh turns on when flash is fired

Today while shooting I noticed, that when I use an external flash, the top LCD light turns on. I turned it off, by clicking to the bulb icon as usually, and when I fired again, it turned on once again....
ShoBiPodelat's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
181 views

How can we calculate effective megapixel loss due to diffraction?

How can we calculate an image's effective megapixel count at each aperture setting, specifically as loss relates to diffraction? Assume that we already know the sensor size, its true megapixel count, ...
icor103's user avatar
  • 739
4 votes
2 answers
280 views

Why are mid-day images dull?

When I take pictures at mid-day, well before the golden hour, my images are usually dull. They seem hazy, low in contrast (perhaps due to haze?), and lacking in saturation. My suspects: Sensor ...
icor103's user avatar
  • 739
14 votes
2 answers
2k views

As a blind person, how can I better understand how wide or narrow a field of view is?

I saw this question but feel that it doesn't fully explain how this works. I am completely blind, so I am trying to come up with a tactile pictorial representation of how field of view works. ...
HeavenlyHarmony's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
314 views

What's this problem with light in my photos called? [duplicate]

I take photos with my phone (a Galaxy S9) frequently and this problem seems to plague me every time I try taking photos indoors near a window during daytime. The light from the window which is above ...
Gabriel Perez's user avatar
7 votes
10 answers
6k views

Why can't I shoot with a fast shutter speed with my continuous light at max power?

I would like to ensure a sharp focus of my object when shooting overhead (both object and background in focus). However, when shooting in manual at f/8.0 and ISO100 my shutter speed has to be 1/4 for ...
Robin's user avatar
  • 81
1 vote
2 answers
289 views

What is a more accurate name for "Full-spectrum" photography?

Photography enthusiasts (and Wikipedia) often call photography that happens outside of the visible spectrum full-spectrum photography. From a scientific standpoint, however, I do not believe that ...
MicroMachine's user avatar
  • 1,579
-1 votes
3 answers
175 views

Real light increments using aperture scale in fractional stops

In the case of using f-number with full stops, the +1EV step means 2*light because the Area (A = πr^2) in the diaphragm is doubled (i.e. radius*√2). However, I don't know why in fractional stops such ...
RobinHood's user avatar
  • 113
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

Correct Exposure with Polaroid One Step 2

I have a Polaroid OneStep 2 with itype film, and I have some problems on how find the correct exposure. Precisely, almost always I get a picture which is overexposed or underexposed, and I do not know ...
Kinka-Byo's user avatar
  • 504
0 votes
2 answers
798 views

Calculate the right ISO and exposure compensation based on the ambient light

I'm new to photography and I'm working on this project where I need to find the right balance between ISO and exposure compensation, to take pictures in different environments. This is an App for ...
113408's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
1 answer
900 views

How do you meter shadow with Nikon FM2 built-in light meter

I tried to follow the old adage "expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights", so that I can capture the shadow detail. I only have Nikon FM2 light meter. How can I meter the shadow with it?
littleworth's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
101 views

How can I best use two torches (aka flashlights) to take photographs of my artwork indoors?

I have two lights in my room but their light is not enough. So, I count them as ambient light. I don't have enough money to buy something expensive like studio stuff, but I have two torches similar ...
Vikas's user avatar
  • 424

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