Setting Up Photography Lighting Without Using a Flash

Generally, using a flash directly pointing at a photography subject produces strong light that can cause harsh shadows as well as flat and washed out colors and details. Although professional photography setups complete with all the camera and lighting equipment can work well with the quick illumination a flash provides, you can also shoot professional-looking photos by simply using available and practical light sources from the surroundings, natural light from the sun or professional lights without necessarily using a flash.

Instructions

Choose your main and supporting light sources. If shooting in an interior location like in a studio where you have control of your space and lighting, use either professional lights or practical sources like lampshade, candles or LED lights. You can also shoot near windows or doors to acquire enough light you need. If shooting in a natural environment, look for the best angle to get a good shot and proper exposure from natural light.

Select your camera, lighting accessories and other photography equipment like tripod, camera lenses, light reflectors and diffusers. These materials help illuminate your shot and control your lighting sources according to how moody, stylized or natural-looking you want your shot to be. Using fast lenses, especially when shooting moving subjects, helps you achieve proper exposure of your shots even without flash when shooting in low-light conditions.

Use the right camera settings for your desired look and style. If shooting with a point-and-shoot camera, your best option for proper shot exposure is to adjust your light sources, subject and location for your shooting set-up. If shooting with a professional camera, use its manual settings to gain more control in both the technical and creative requirements of your shot.

Shoot in RAW instead of the regular JPEG format for your photos. This option is only available for DSLR cameras. This format allows you more versatility in doing key adjustments during post-processing of your photos using an image-editing program. Altering the contrast, exposure and other image settings of a RAW photo wont result to image quality reduction, which is generally encountered in a lossy compression format like JPEG.

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