EXISTING LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

Quite frequently the assignment for the photographer may be to take a pictures inside a room, office, library, auditorium, home, or other similar inside locations. Supplementary lighting, such as flood lamps or flash, may not be readily available or for that matter, desirable. In such situations we have every right to expect the best possible picture. Sometimes the best effect can be achieved without the aid of extra lighting. Instead the photographer may rely on the light that exists at the location. This is referred to as existing light or available light photography. Such photography has certain advantages and disadvantages.

Available, or existing light photography, is taking a picture by the light that exists at the location, rather than by adding supplementary (flood or flash) light. We usually interpret available light to mean pictures indoors, under normal lighting conditions within a room. It does not include ordinary bright sunlight, but is commonly understood to mean lower illumination, such as existing light within a room that people work, read, play and live by.

As early as the 1920’s, Erich Saloman was taking existing—light pictures. However his exposures lasted several minutes. It was not until about 1954 that available light became practical. This was brought about by the introduction of the fast films as Kodak Tri-X, Royal Pan, Ilford HP-4, and technical improvements in developers and lenses.

Advantages

There are four major advantages of using available light rather than flash or flood light. They are:

    1. A photograph taken by available light often has a natural, authentic quality that cannot be obtained by any other means. It is free of harsh and unnatural shadows—it looks like life itself. It makes and interior appear natural and uniformly illuminated. Backgrounds are not dark as they are with flash and flood lights.

    2. The photographer is freed from carrying the cumbersome flash units, floods, etc. This leaves the photographer free to concentrate on the picture and to shoot swiftly to capture the mood of the situation.

    3. It is less disturbing to the subject than flash and flood lights. For example, it is food for candid shots of people.

    4. It is good where interest is to be centered in a small area as these pictures usually have a very shallow depth of field. This shallow depth of field results form using wide lens openings. This eliminates distracting detail in the background.

 

How It Is Done

Available light photography usually requires a film speed of at least ASA 400 or faster. Because available light can vary greatly in intensity, and accurate exposure reading is very essential. This may be done by a reflected type meter or by taking an incident reading. When measuring reflected light, it is best to measure the shadow areas and highlight areas and attempt to use a compromise reading between the two extremes.

Development, as a rule, should be normal, although it may be advisable to overdevelop slightly. Avoid prolonged development as this will increase contrast and destroy the natural effect and impact of the available light. "Pushing" development should be used only in cases where there is certainty of underexposure, and then only as a "last ditch" measure.

In setting up a scene, avoid objects in the immediate foreground or background that are wanted to be in sharp focus. The limited depth of field could present a problem. This could require some rearranging of furniture or other items.

Small rooms present special problems with normal lenses. Often the scene turns out to be nothing more that a picture of a davenport or desk. A wide-angle lens can be of help under these conditions, as more will be included in the picture.

There is no need to exclude people from interior scenes unless the exposure is longer than that for which they can hold still. In fact people often look much better and more candid when shot by existing light.

The height of the camera is important too. If it is not kept level it will cause vertical lines (doors and corners) to converge and distort the image. If the emphasis is on a person, this effect may not be of great importance, but if one is concerned with the room interior, this can be very disturbing.

One more problem in photographing using available light is how the photographer must learn to be smarter than the camera. The exposure meter in the camera can be easily misled into reading that there is more light in a location than there really exists. This is where the photographer must learn to estimate the correct exposure and override the exposure meter. The problem is backlight coming from side windows or bright incandescent lights that fool the meter. One way to keep from being fooled is to read the light on the floor or use an 18% gray card. Another method of keeping from using the incorrect exposure is to bracket the exposure.

 

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