Specialist UK Lighting Photographer

Commercial lighting photography is one of DWPi's specialisms and we've been making images in partnership with the sector leaders for many years. So what makes taking photographs of lighting a specialist discipline?

In the studio and on location

Primarily what defines a specialist lighting photographer is the very real appreciation of how light behaves and how the lighting industry demands to see not only the lamps and light fittings but, just as importantly, the quality of light produced.

Light becomes weaker inversely proportional to the distance it travels. The light emitted from a clients luminaries illuminating an area to be photographed is therefore many times brighter than the overall illumination of the area lit.

The camera never lies but it's not as good as the human eye at telling the truth.

The human eye can take this difference in and is capable of seeing a greater contrast range than a camera and even greater than the range of values that can be held in print. In order to replicate what the eye can see we need to capture several exposures and layer them together in such a way to give a natural look and still see the clients products, in other words prevent them from burning out.

In print it is not desirable for large areas of 'light' to have zero values on paper and just appear as holes of nothing, no detail, no information about the product. Many other photographers simply do not know how to control these values.

Also key is to appreciate the function of the light fitting and capture the intended lighting effect, this sounds easier than it really is.

Getting the blues over complicated colour balance

On top of all this, lighting photography throws-out specific complications of the colour balance that each light source emits, influencing the overall impact with local colour casts that the camera detects but the eye does not see. Examples of this are fluorescent - green, halide - magenta, tungsten - yellow/red and LED has a tendency to be blue but has its own problems with the intensity of the colours (especially blue).

Try this at home

The next time you watch a TV show where there is lots of strong blue and purple lighting just remember that actually if you were at the recording the light you would see would all be mainly blue, it is the intensity that changes it purple. Difficult to change for live TV so they make the most of the phenomenon and turn it into an effect. But in this instance being at the live event is not the purpose and it is what you see on screen that counts.

See a vivid depiction of this lighting challenge

Light-Saving RetouchingTo see an accurate representation of the quality of illumination created by lighting products then our photographic images will require special treatment. We've created for you a very vivid before-and-after animation that shows in seconds what a difference this special retouching tretment will deliver.

Our studio allows for more control and many of our lighting images are combinations of different lighting overlaid together to achieve stunning results.

We shoot every kind of lighting in our Bedfordshire studio and also on location at sites across the UK - shooting interior, exterior, security and safety lighting. Our photographs are used by the progressive leaders in the lighting sector for product catalogues, e-commerce websites, advertising, PR and lighting trade editorial.

The most under-estimated skill of all is understanding the nuances of lighting the subject. Without light one cannot take a picture. Where the light is positioned, how soft or hard, direct or diffused, what colour it should be, are just some of the things to consider when they take their photographs. Anyone can learn how to operate a camera or to perform the basics in post software fairly quickly, but how to light a scene or product takes at least a lifetime to fully grasp. DWP Imaging are constantly learning and honing their skills. Owning a digital camera is only like owning a performance car. It's how you make it perform that really counts.

Your lighting deserves to be photographed by a specialist

Lighting is a highly specialist discipline within commercial photography. Call us and let our experience brighten your marketing.

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