Understanding photography lighting basics can transform the way you shoot. This beginner’s guide covers natural light, artificial light, light direction, and common lighting mistakes… plus how learning to work with light can bring more consistency and intention to your photography.

In photography, colour does far more than add visual interest. It shapes the mood of an image, draws the viewer in, and helps communicate the story. In our Chase the Rainbow project, we celebrate colour by focusing on a different shade each month. Whether that’s seeking out the colour in nature, spotting it at home, or styling a scene with thoughtfully selected props and clothing, the project encourages creativity and seeing the world through a more colourful lens.

“It's clear, it's fresh, like a mint candy.” Margaret Atwood 

March’s colour is mint green! Mint green is cool-toned shade of green that evokes a sense of freshness and renewal. It’s a calming, uplifting colour that captures the lightness of early spring, symbolising growth, balance, and a fresh start.

Enjoy looking through all our mint green images.

52 Clicks | Week 9 | Movement

With the light month complete in our Project 52, we're moving onto storytelling. One of the easiest and most visually interesting ways to tell a story in photography is to add movement. Whether the movement is stopped, blurred or implied, the action provides great storytelling context. 

It was fun watching the p52 participants experiment with new techniques like panning and intentional camera movement. That's what the project is all about after all, learning and trying new things. If this appeals to you, there's still time to join. Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

Switching from photography to video can feel overwhelming at first. Suddenly you’re thinking about movement, sound, editing, and storytelling… not just light and composition.

But here’s the good news: you already have the foundation.

Photography teaches you to see emotion and anticipate moments. Video simply asks you to capture what happens before and after that single frame. Instead of freezing time, you begin preserving it as a sequence with wide shots to set the scene, close-ups to reveal feeling, and natural sound to bring it to life.

Once you shift from thinking in moments to thinking in movement, video stops feeling intimidating and starts feeling powerful.

In this post we share our Winner and Featured Artists for the February 2026 CONNECTION Photo Challenge at The Framed Focus!

52 Clicks | Week 8 | Artificial Light

Artificial light is one of those things that most photographers avoid. We prefer natural light. But understanding how to use artificial light can be a great tool for your photography, and a fun way to infuse creativity into your work. Let's see how the Project 52 participants used artificial light last week, and maybe you can get inspired to dig into this type of light for the future. You can still join us! Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

We sat down with Élodie to explore the evolution of her artistic path, the philosophies behind her teaching, and the transformative power of connecting with your own unique vision. Whether you're just picking up a camera or years into your craft, this conversation might just help you listen more closely to the creative voice that’s been waiting to speak.

52 Clicks | Week 7 | Directional Light

Directional light is technically light that comes in from any direction, but as photographers we often think of this as being the dramatic light coming from the side. Think deep shadows and slices or pockets of light. This type of light is fun to play with and use creatively. But directional light doesn't necessarily need to bring the drama. It can be soft front light and diffused window light and subtle ambient light. This week's theme in our Project 52 was really open to any and all light, and I think you'll see this while looking through the participants' images.

If you're looking for a little push to be creative this year, you can still join us. Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

Film pulls something out of me that digital never quite can. It slows me down, demands intention, and asks me to trust what I see before I ever know the outcome. After years of building a business rooted in precision and performance, I found myself craving something different. A return to texture. To patience. To imperfection. What started as nostalgia has become something much deeper - a creative reset that reminds me why I picked up a camera in the first place.

52 Clicks | Week 6 | Backlight

The light last week in our Project 52 was all about embracing that backlight. Backlight can be a tricky one to master if the light source is strong and unfiltered. It can be great for more artistic shots, like silhouettes, dramatic rim light and starbursts. If the light is filtered (behind trees, curtains, etc) or at a time of day when it's softer (golden hour, for example), you can use it to create beautiful portraits. See how the p52 participants used this type of light last week.

And if you're wanting to join in our challenge, it's not too late. Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

Photographing teens and preteens can feel intimidating… especially if you’re used to working with younger kids who happily perform for the camera. As kids grow, they become more self-aware, protective of their space, and less interested in being told how to pose. The good news? You don’t need stiff posing or long sessions to get strong images. With a few simple shifts (like keeping things quick, respecting boundaries, and directing instead of posing) you can create natural, confident photos of teens whether you’re photographing your own kids or working with clients.

In photography, colour does far more than add visual interest. It shapes the mood of an image, draws the viewer in, and helps communicate the story. In our Chase the Rainbow project, we celebrate colour by focusing on a different shade each month. Whether that’s seeking out the colour in nature, spotting it at home, or styling a scene with thoughtfully selected props and clothing, the project encourages creativity and seeing the world through a more colourful lens.

“Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink.” – Lilly Pulitzer

February’s colour is pink! A symbol of nurturing love, femininity, and kindness, pink combines the strength of red with the purity of white. Pink ranges from a soft, innocent baby pink, to an exotic and optimistic coral, to a vibrant, playful magenta, with each shade evoking a different mood.

Enjoy looking through all our pink images.

52 Clicks | Week 5 | Low Light

February in our Project 52 is all about light. The first type of light we tackled was low light. This light can be tricky, forcing you to switch out of auto mode to manual to have greater control of your settings. Don't be afraid to bump up the ISO, though. If exposed properly, you are able to minimize the amount of noise in your image. Another trick for focusing is to use manual focus since our cameras can struggle to grab focus while in autofocus in these low lit conditions.

Look at all the ways the p52 participants used low light last week.

There's still time to jump in the project. Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

Finding Creativity Through Color explores how an ongoing color self-portrait project can spark creativity, encourage risk-taking, and fuel long-term artistic growth. From playful, over-the-top beginnings to more refined and conceptual approaches, this series shows how working with color as a constraint can lead to deeper experimentation, stronger visual storytelling, and renewed motivation to keep creating—even when inspiration feels low.

In this post we share our Winner and Featured Artists for the January 2026 MOODY LIGHT Photo Challenge at The Framed Focus!

52 Clicks | Week 4 | Micro-composition

We ended our first month in the Project 52 with micro-composition. This is an advanced concept that was brand new for most of us, and it certainly cannot be mastered in a single week. We all struggled to wrap our brains around exactly what it is. When broken down into its most basic parts, micro-composition is composing your image with the utmost care of all the details and how they interact with one another to create the larger scene. It is a technique we often use on some level without realizing it. When we intentionally use elements in a scene, or when we craftily arrange our subjects, or when we move around to get the perfect perspective, etc. These are ways in which we unconsciously use micro-composition. 

It becomes trickier when we are actively engaging these concepts because our minds tend to flick over to overthinking mode. Our biggest takeaway all week was to focus on the attempt and not the end results. We may miss the mark just a little as we go out and try new things, but we will never learn new things if we don't at least try them. Sometimes we learn the most when we try and then fail and then try again.

We are onto our next monthly theme in the p52. There's still time to jump in! Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

Stepping in front of the camera can feel intimidating for photographers who are most comfortable behind it. In my Wilde Wanderings Photo Project, I challenged myself to create one environmental self-portrait each month while exploring nature. Over the course of a year, this personal photography project pushed me outside my comfort zone and taught me valuable lessons about planning, adaptability, creative problem-solving, and giving myself grace. From icy winter staircases to crowded mountain docks and unpredictable weather, each image became more than a photo—it became a memory, a reflection, and a reminder that meaningful work doesn’t require perfection.

52 Clicks | Week 3 | Asymmetry

Asymmetry was the next theme in our month of composition in our Project 52. It was a new concept for some of us, and there may or may not have been some familiar grumblings about how the project is off to a challenging start. And I may or may not have smirked a bit with gleeful pleasure because isn't that the whole point? To challenge ourselves?

On top of the already challenging theme, a majority of us also faced weather challenges. As in, dangerous sub-zero temperatures that forced us inside with our cameras (Hi, that's me!). As you scroll through the participants images you'll see a common theme: snow, winter, frost, liars who make people believe winter is a lovely season, more false advertising on the idea of a winter wonderland, and...dogs.

It's not too late to hop in! Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke

In photography, colour does far more than add visual interest. It shapes the mood of an image, draws the viewer in, and helps communicate the story. In our Chase the Rainbow project, we celebrate colour by focusing on a different shade each month. Whether that’s seeking out the colour in nature, spotting it at home, or styling a scene with thoughtfully selected props and clothing, the project encourages creativity and seeing the world through a more colourful lens.

“Brown is the color of hearth and home — of dried herbs and stone-ground bread and freshly baked cookies.” Leatrice Eiseman

The first colour for 2026 is brown. Brown is anything but drab! It’s a beautifully warm, earthy colour that creates a feeling of coziness and nostalgia. Coffee, chocolate, crispy dried leaves, tree bark, stuffed toys, pets, architecture, we see so much of brown in our everyday lives that we can easily overlook its magic. 

Enjoy looking through all our brown images.

The second week of our composition month in our Project 52 was all about the rule of triangles. This sent a lot of us into overthinking mode as we hunted for triangles and/or tried to wrap our minds around the golden triangle composition. Incorporating triangles in your work is an easy way to make your images more visually engaging. Take a peek at a small sampling of the p52 participants' use of triangles.

If you're looking for a project that sparks your creativity and gets you thinking each week, there's still plenty of time to join us! Sign up now!

xoxo,
Angie Mahlke