The folks over at Digital Photography School had suggestions on how to use your cellphone for dramatic night photos.
In the article, it suggested using the LED lamp on your smart phone as a key light for portraits. It throws adequate light on the subject, while at the same time preserving the ambient light. It works better than flash which tends to create a harshly lit image of the subject against a nearly pitch-black background.
This is not the first time someone has suggested this. Jared Polin over at FroKnowsPhoto.com has also advocated this technique for years. The best example is his photo of a meetup in front of the Kolner Dom in Cologne, Germany.
But the DPS article acknowledges that there is a problem with this technique. The LED on the phone is not the brightest light, as it's a single bulb. That means you have to hold the phone pretty close to the subject and possibly boost your ISO to boot.
But there's a way to shed more light on the subject without breaking the bank. Harbor Freight has 144-lumen led flashlights for less than $4 that can put out more light than a phone. I keep a few of them around my house (I usually pick them up when I get the coupon to get one free) for emergencies, but I think I might add it to my photo bag as well.
In the article, it suggested using the LED lamp on your smart phone as a key light for portraits. It throws adequate light on the subject, while at the same time preserving the ambient light. It works better than flash which tends to create a harshly lit image of the subject against a nearly pitch-black background.
This is not the first time someone has suggested this. Jared Polin over at FroKnowsPhoto.com has also advocated this technique for years. The best example is his photo of a meetup in front of the Kolner Dom in Cologne, Germany.
But the DPS article acknowledges that there is a problem with this technique. The LED on the phone is not the brightest light, as it's a single bulb. That means you have to hold the phone pretty close to the subject and possibly boost your ISO to boot.
But there's a way to shed more light on the subject without breaking the bank. Harbor Freight has 144-lumen led flashlights for less than $4 that can put out more light than a phone. I keep a few of them around my house (I usually pick them up when I get the coupon to get one free) for emergencies, but I think I might add it to my photo bag as well.
