Lighting
The saying "lighting is everything when it comes to photography" cannot be overstated. This is such an important point we feel it needs further elaboration. There are two methods to light any scene. Let's talk about each and how we use lighting at Spencer J. Fisher Photography.

Flash
Flash comes in many varieties. Pop-up flashes, external flashes on top of a camera, and strobe lights (studio lights) which trigger when the camera shutter is released. To paraphrase the American Express commercial, "We never leave home without our studio lights."

With studios lights we can go into any large room with multiple windows and feel confident we can light the whole room and keep the windows perfectly exposed. When shooting an interior with multiple rooms we can place studio lights in each room. This allows all the rooms to be properly exposed. No dark spooky rooms!        

Ambient (available light) 
When a camera does not use a flash to assist with lighting it is considered ambient lighting. Shooting with "available light" is another term frequently used. An interior can be lit with artificial light sources such as fluorescent, tungsten, halogen and it is still considered ambient lighting as long as a flash is not used.

Photographing with ambient light can lead to beautiful results. There is something very special and pleasing in capturing a scene in its purest form. The idea is to "capture the ambience".

Ambient or Flash?
The answer is both. During the course of an assignment we may shoot all flash, all ambient or a combination of both. A lot of this depends on the requirements of the assignment, the elements in the scene and a variety of other factors.

Which is better?
The answer of course is neither. The idea is to be prepared to handle a variety of circumstances which will allow us to adapt to get the job done and meet our client's requirements.




This is a scene in which we used a studio light to mildly fill the room. This allowed us to capture the detail in the dark dresser and keep the windows from becoming over-exposed. The flash was subtle enough not to take away from the natural sunlight which created a beautiful pattern on the comforter.

We bring enough studio lighting equipment to tackle most lighting situations that may arise during the course of an assignment. Would you pay a carpenter extra for bringing tools? Of course not. That is why we never charge our clients extra for any additional equipment needed to complete an assignment.    

We hope this brief overview assists you in understanding one of the most fundamental and important aspects of good photography: LIGHTING.