In this current time period of digital cameras, you probably think all you need to do is point and click to take great photos.Hold on, don’t go so fast.The honest truth is, you may have a great digital camera, but if you are clueless in what to do, you will take ugly shots.

I would love to give you some good tips to help you improve your photography skills.  These tips are coming from years of experience as a San Diego wedding photographer.These tips are all about the lighting and they will some of biggest reasons for you success in taking photographs.

First great tip in regards to lighting.  Now if you are taking shots outdoors during the day, natural sunlight provides some of the best lighting possible.  Now you are probably thinking, “that’s easy, when you are a San Diego photographer since it is always shiny there”, when in actuality really bright sunlight can cast harsh shadows.  Or it can wash out the details in faces if the sun is overhead.

Overall, what you will want to do is to have the sun behind you when you take most of the shots.This stops any harsh shadows in your photo caused by the sun.  But there will be some instances when you want to try different angles when you are trying to get some shadows into the shots.

Now that we have tackled the day shots, what if you are taking shots at night? 

The key technique for night photos is actually turning off your flash.Now if it is pictch black, of course you will need it, but if there are some lighting, use it, but make sure the shutter speeds are slower to let the light in.Also, stay steady when you are taking your photograph or you will cause the picture to blur.Doing these tricks should make a significantly dramatic difference when you take night shots. 

The third and final tip with using lighting to capture great photos is the golden hour.  There is something photographers call the “golden hour” or magic hour, and that time is sunrise and sunset.

During these times of the day you will capture great shots that allow you to capture more warmer and inviting colors.You’re going to be able to capture the golden lighting you won’t find during any other part of the day.

There you have it.Probably the biggest secret in taking great photographs is taking advantage of the natural lighting.  Knowing what techniques to use for different parts of the day, or just scheduling a photo shoots to capture those times of day will help you become an excellent photographer.

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