As the light level increases the resistance of theLDR starts to decrease causing the base bias voltage at V1 to rise. At some point determined by the potential divider network formed with resistorR1, the base bias voltage is high enough to turn the transistor TR1 "ON" and thus activate the relay which inturn is used to control some external circuitry. As the light level falls back to darkness again the resistance of the LDR increases causing the base voltage of the transistor to decrease, turning the transistor and relay "OFF" at a fixed light level determined again by the potential divider network.
By replacing the fixed resistor R1 with a potentiometer VR1, the point at which the relay turns "ON" or "OFF" can be pre-set to a particular light level. This type of simple circuit shown above has a fairly low sensitivity and its switching point may not be consistent due to variations in either temperature or the supply voltage. A more sensitive precision light activated circuit can be easily made by incorporating the LDR into a "Wheatstone Bridge" arrangement and replacing the transistor with an Operational Amplifier as shown.