Ambient light examples how to#

They can use natural light when shooting nature views at noon or night.Īrtificial light coming from the buildings’ lamps can also be optimized to get a striking cityscape picture. People who shoot landscape photography are essentially using ambient lighting.

You will get ambient lighting when shooting outdoors since there will be sunlight, moonlight, or city lights. It also comes back to your original concept, needs, and equipment possessed. Photographers can use ambient lighting pretty much anywhere. You can mix and match light fixtures to add a dimension of warmth to your scene too. It is even called mood lighting because of its ability to create a specific atmosphere.įor example, ambient lighting is often used to make a home shine and look more beautiful. Proper ambient light will help your subject or atmosphere to look more relaxed. Not too high that makes your eyes uncomfortable and not too little that it doesn’t create any effects. It is essentially a soft light that envelops your scene/room perfectly. To avoid confusion or unnecessary debate when working on a project, it is in your best interest to explain your scene’s lighting in detail.Īmbient light from the window How Does Ambient Lighting Work?Īmbient lighting works by providing you with a sufficient amount of exposure without much glare on the camera. While the term ambient light commonly refers to any available light around us, a few photographers also refer to the term “natural light” specifically for the sunlight and moonlight.

I should also mention the grey area between the terms “natural” and “ambient.” Sometimes, we need to modify the ambient light to match the object or mood we wish to create, especially when performing an outdoor shoot. Some photographers refer to it as “modified” ambient lighting. Artificial ambient lighting examples would mostly depend on the surroundings, such as streetlights, light bulbs, track lights, or even car headlights.Īlthough it does translate as “natural” light, you are still allowed to modify it using reflectors, scrims, or other modifiers. It’s either a fixed or a highly uncontrollable light source. Natural ambient lighting is something like sunlight, moonlight, fireflies, etc.

Ambient light examples how to#

How to Use Ambient Light in Photography?Īmbient light is a source of light that a photographer or videographer did not bring to the session that can be either artificial or natural.