Candlelight photography is an engrossing niche to try. You can make use of your creativity and photography skills fully in this. It is basically of two types- in one, you click the candle itself, and in another, you capture only its light in the photo. The magical illumination of the candle allows you to tell a mystical story to the audience. Sounds interesting, right? But it's highly challenging to express what you visualize in your candlelight photos. You will require to brainstorm new ideas, plan properly, use your photography skills, and follow some tips that are discussed in this article, to bring life to your photo. These tips will elevate your overall photography experience for sure.

Top 3 Candlelight Photography Tips

Be innovative

As there are no such rules and regulations in candlelight photography, you can be as creative as you wish. If you are using more than one candle, experiment with their arrangements. If it's only one candle that you're clicking, pay much attention to its position. You can take a close-up shot of the flame, or click the entire candle from a distance. But keep in mind that candles primarily bring a serene, spiritual effect on the minds of the viewers. So, do not make the photo exaggerated with unnecessary details. If you think your photo is becoming too dull, add a key element or two, but make sure that it's not distracting, rather enhancing the candlelight.

Beware of shadows!

Unwanted shadows can kill a beautifully planned picture. To avoid this, be very careful with the positions of the candles. If you are adding a subject in your photo, place the candle beside or in front to add a dim glow. But never make your subject hold the candle right beneath the face, it will cast a shadow on the face and make the subject look very scary! Also, never put the subject partially or fully obstructing the flame, unless you want to create a silhouette effect. To make your photo look much more intense, use a white table cloth to put the candles on, and white background. It creates an amazing reflection of the flame. To go one step further, you can have a mirror as the backdrop.

Set the right camera settings

Camera settings play the chief role in candlelight photography. Use the camera settings which are appropriate for low light conditions. Set the aperture high, i.e. use a small f-number to let in the maximum possible light. If you are shooting with a DSLR, enable the aperture priority mode. Increase the ISO a bit, but do not cross 500 as that will make your photo noisy. Set the auto mode of white balance. As the candlelight will make the photo warm, you might make it a little cooler to create a balance in the image.

Above all, do not forget that you are playing with fire while doing candlelight photography! So, take the necessary measures to protect your gear from the flame.

Written By Sanga Basu, Content Writer, WPC.

Candlelight photography is an engrossing niche to try. You can make use of your creativity and photography skills fully in this. It is basically of two types- in one, you click the candle itself, and in another, you capture only its light in the photo. The magical illumination of the candle allows you to tell a mystical story to the audience. Sounds interesting, right? But it's highly challenging to express what you visualize in your candlelight photos. You will require to brainstorm new ideas, plan properly, use your photography skills, and follow some tips that are discussed in this article, to bring life to your photo. These tips will elevate your overall photography experience for sure.

Top 3 Candlelight Photography Tips

Be innovative

Beware of shadows!

Set the right camera settings

Above all, do not forget that you are playing with fire while doing candlelight photography! So, take the necessary measures to protect your gear from the flame.

Written By Sanga Basu, Content Writer, WPC.

Top 3 Candlelight Photography Tips

Published by WPC Official Account on Oct'19,2021

0 | 978