Ambient Light refers to any light in a given scene that isn’t artificial light, light supplied by the photographer. Sunlight, candlelight or light emanating from surrounding lamps can produce ambient light in a photograph.
Ambient lighting has become something I am a little obsessed with lately. I am actually in love with it! I was a second shooter for a wedding a couple of weeks ago and Melissa (who has been an amazing mentor to me with photography) showed me the proper way to do ambient lighting. Ever since than I have been practicing with it and trying new things. It is so much fun! I found a little website that goes more into how to capture the ambient lighting. This one uses Christmas lights as examples, but in general you could use any other kind of lights you want. You could even do a shot of Down Town with all the pretty lights flickering. In a couple of days I will be going to Universal Studios and touring Hollywood with my husband for our 5 year anniversary. (I am actually just really excited to take pictures!) I plan on taking some fun ambient lighting pictures in Hollywood in the in between stages of light and dark. I am so excited to see what I come up with! Here is the link to the website that shows how to capture this style onto the camera:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html
Also you do not need a high end camera for this. A point and shoot will work as well. Just remember to turn off that flash. Here is a video if you would like a more detail description of everything:
Here are a couple websites about Night Photography.
http://www.webphotoschool.com/all_lessons/free_lessons/Creative_Techniques_for_Night_Photography/index.html
http://photojojo.com/content/photojojo-original/night-portrait-photography/
And last but not least, here are some of my own ambient lighting pictures. Some of these were done in doors just using the available light.
More pictures to come... once I get them uploaded.
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