The more I read and learn about taking pictures the more I think, “hey, these guys know what they’re talking about”. I like Jeremy Cowart’s advice on becoming a better photographer, “Just shoot a lot of pictures”. I also read books. I recently picked up Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 (Yes, I read Volume One). Take the first chapter: Using Flash like a Pro. It talks about light. I decided to test his ideas out and these are the results.

First, I am taking these pictures of myself. Perhaps that’s obvious. Maybe not. However, if it’s not obvious, I blame it on the remote which makes this kind of thing possible.

I started with a white (and then black) background since they reflect light differently; cardboard from the Office Depot

I then moved to the black background. Softer?

I then tried turning the ceiling  light off and used the garage door light. I get a somewhat different lighting. I’d say much softer still.

When I started to see the differences in the view finder I got the idea to open the side door to the garage just a little, gradually opening it more and more. Here’s a little garage door light. If that light were on the top of my head I’d claim it was a halo and sell my likeness on eBay.

Here’s a little more. (Thanks for bearing with me. I know that looking at pictures of me might not be super high on your list of fun things to do but since I did this on my lunch break, and since I work from home, I was the only one around to take pictures of.)

Here’s a lot. I didn’t realize I was squinting until I looked at the shot.

Thanks for joining me on my experiment. Now, wasn’t that fun?