Light it up!

Lately, I've been fixated on learning everything I can about lighting and how it affects the camera. There is so much you can do with available light that it's so confusing. This isn't an easy task because no one around me is able to teach me any of this. Everything that I have learned is from what I have read off the internet. I look at people's photos and try and dissect them and figure out how they created their images. I imagine myself in their shoes and pretend that it's me taking the picture. What settings would I use? Where should the light be reflected and how much of it should I use? Too much light will cause blown highlights. Too little will cause the photo to blur and look overly dark.

Anyways, here is my first basic attempt at available light. It's not that interesting, but gave me something to do on a quiet night in Tohoku.