All three shots here were taken using the afternoon sunlight, from around 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. The color temperature is warm and pleasant. The flower (Photo 1) was lit perfectly and I made it more perfect by focusing on only one spot. As for Photo 2, you can see that the setting sun was casting light on the upper part of the window frame at the right. It was as if I had used a yellow-filtered flash and snoot to shed light on the window frame. Without this background light, the photo would be plain, as the sunlight did not make the texture of the brick walls any more obvious. For Photo 3, I deliberately marked a smaller exposure, to reveal the warm tone coming from the setting sun that is visible on the porch handles.
Landscape photos are prone to under- or overexposure, as I have said a number of times. I think most of you are familiar with situations when the sky is all too bright when you are trying to keep the mountains in the same picture at a normal exposure. And you will underexpose the mountain if the sky has a normal exposure, at the other extreme. Never mind the gradient filter for a while. You can still get decent pictures if you give it more thought and decide what kind of image you want.
Take a look at Photo 1, a seemingly typical shot you can find in a tourist album for the Forbidden City of China. Notably, it has appropriately captured three elements with different levels of brightness: the sky, the architecture, as well as the shaded area. Bear in mind that the main subject — the architecture shown here — is not like trees or mountains that are less reflective. So, choosing this subject in the first place is a good choice because it will be less prone to great contrast in brightness. Secondly, the colors of red and blue together in the photo are good. More importantly, this picture attracts the eye because there are at least three levels of brightness in the picture, adding interest. Additionally, the geometry created by the diagonal lines makes the picture more dynamic. And of course, you have to take a few shots with different apertures to find the most appropriate one.
To achieve a picture like Photo 2, with shadows clearly seen, you have to take some test shots too. All in all, you cannot take these two pictures unless you use a manual mode. Likewise, you have to totally control your settings (to achieve a “darker” picture, in layman’s terms) if you want a picture like Photo 4. Mark a smaller aperture and leave some part of the photo in total darkness so that the architecture is made more prominent and the sky won’t be as bright as a white sheet. To take an indoor picture with a beam of sunlight like in Photo 3, a manual mode is as important. Just keep in mind that only the most important element in the photo needs to be exposed nicely and forget the rest. That’s how to make your photos look more professional.
All three of these pictures were taken in Sanlitun Village, Beijing. The aperture and shutter settings are not as important here as other factors. As I always say, the thing to do is to take in as much light as possible and then focus on the composition to see what will interest the viewer the most. Here, I captured the walking visitors as well as the eye-catching logo at the far right. At a later stage, I saw the rising fountain and the kid who sat down with his phone. In fact, this photo works well only when there is enough light from the big screen together with the light reflected by the fountain to create rim light for the kid. Photo 3 shows you a general view of the flagship store situated in the center of Sanlitun Village.
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