Artificial Light is much weaker than daylight, therefore a tripod needed if a low ISO setting (eg ISO 100) is being used. For hand held shooting, a high ISO setting can be used (eg ISO 1600). The drawback to high ISO is that photographs will be very grainy.
Whilst completing Artificial Light I have been made more aware of the three types of available light; Tungsten, Fluorescent and Vapour Lamps. With a camera's white balance set to daylight, Tungsten light photographs reddish, Fluorescent - cool blue, Sodium Vapour Lamps - Orangey Yellow and Multi/Mercury Vapour Lamps - cool tones. I have learnt that to counteract the colour cast from these light sources I need to place filters over my lens, eg to shoot with daylight balanced film in a tungsten lit environment, a blue filter needs to be applied in order to capture natural tones. Alternatively, when using my DSLR, I can simply change the white balance setting to Tungsten.
I have also learnt how to appropriately utilise Photographing lighting and the accessories associated with it. To help me in the completion of a number of projects I purchased a budget studio flash, diffuser and created some basic reflectors and an absorber. Using a diffuser reduces contrast and smooths out shadows. Reflectors are useful in reducing contrast even more. When placed on the opposite of a subject to the light source, they bounce light back towards the subject. Absorbers increase contrast. When placed as close to a subject as possible, on the opposite side to the light source, they inhibit light from reflecting back towards the subject.
To take a standard portrait shot with minimal contrast, the flash unit should be diffused, aimed directly at the model and be at the same level as her and the camera. Alternatively, a second flash unit could be used. Each one should be placed either side of the camera and aimed directly at the model, reflectors can then be used opposite each flash unit and slightly behind the model to ensure there's no dark areas on her sides.
Another use of Artificial Light is to capture light trails at night. This is the use of long shutter speeds to capture any light moving across the frame as a stream. One of the most popular ways to use this technique is by shooting cars head and tail lights. This is quite a technical process as the shutter speed has to be long enough to capture the passage of light (or multiple lights) through the frame, yet the aperture and ISO need to be set so that the rest of the image remains correctly exposed (or not exposed at all).
