Lighting vs. composition: Which one is more important?
Sep 29, 2020
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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We can say that good lighting and good composition are the essentials of a good photo. But which of these is more important? In this video, Manny Ortiz discusses this interesting question. Can we even make such a choice?
If you ask me, choosing between lighting and composition is like asking a mother which of her children she loves more. Good composition is what makes your photo really stand out. On the other hand, if the lighting is bad, there’s no composition that can compensate for it.
Manny believes that lighting is the most important part of a photograph, and we can agree on that. So, you should look for a good lighting even when the composition is not great straight away – but that doesn’t mean that you should disregard it! Find your light, but then work from there to create the composition that will be ideal for your image.
Manny sometimes makes the compromise and uses light that’s not ideal if it will get him an ideal composition. However, this situation happens mainly when you rely on natural light. You can overcome it if you learn how to use artificial lighting. This way, you’ll be able to compose the photo the way you like, create your own light, and get everything perfect.
What would you say, is light more important, or is it composition? I think it depends on the situation, how much and in which way you can edit the photo, and after all – what you want to tell with your image. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[LIGHTING vs COMPOSITION in Photography. What’s more important and why! | Manny Ortiz]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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3 responses to “Lighting vs. composition: Which one is more important?”
Well you can’t even take a bad photo without light, I would rather have a` badly composed image than none at all :)
Am I the only one thinking this poll is quite pointless?
Let’s ask a football team what’s more important – to score a goal or prevent enemy team from scoring it?
Both for great photos.