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Ambient light (also available light or existing light) is a term used by photographers
Photography

Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an ....
, cinematographer
Cinematographer

A cinematographer is one photography with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting film crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image....
s and other practitioners of the visual arts to refer to the illumination surrounding a subject or scene, specifically any and all light not provided by the photographer.

Levels of ambient light are most frequently considered relative to additional lighting used as fill light
Fill light

In television, film, stage, or photographic lighting, a fill light may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene and provide some illumination for the areas of the image that are in shadow....
, in which case the ambient light is normally treated as the key light
Key light

The key light is the first and usually most important light that a photographer, cinematographer, or other scene composer will use in a lighting setup....
.






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Ambient light (also available light or existing light) is a term used by photographers
Photography

Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an ....
, cinematographer
Cinematographer

A cinematographer is one photography with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting film crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image....
s and other practitioners of the visual arts to refer to the illumination surrounding a subject or scene, specifically any and all light not provided by the photographer.

Levels of ambient light are most frequently considered relative to additional lighting used as fill light
Fill light

In television, film, stage, or photographic lighting, a fill light may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene and provide some illumination for the areas of the image that are in shadow....
, in which case the ambient light is normally treated as the key light
Key light

The key light is the first and usually most important light that a photographer, cinematographer, or other scene composer will use in a lighting setup....
. In some cases, ambient light may be used as a fill, in which case additional lighting provides the stronger light source, for example in bounce flash photography. The relative intensity of ambient light and fill light is known as the lighting ratio
Lighting ratio

Lighting ratio in photography refers to the comparison of key light to the fill light . The higher the lighting ratio, the higher the contrast of the image; the lower the ratio, the lower the contrast....
, an important factor in calculating contrast
Contrast (vision)

Contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object distinguishable from other objects and the background. In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the object and other objects within the same field of view....
 in the finished image.

See also

  • Low-key lighting
    Low-key lighting

    Low-key lighting is a style of Stage lighting for photography, film or television. It attempts to create a chiaroscuro effect. In traditional photographic lighting, three-point lighting uses a key light, a fill light, and a back light for even illumination....
  • High-key lighting
    High-key lighting

    High-key lighting is a style of Stage lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene....
  • Mid-key lighting