The Language of Light

• Light Quality
  • Soft
  • Harsh
• Light Direction
  • Side
  • Front
  • Top
  • Back (do not use back lighting for this assignment)

Light Quality – Use soft lighting for subtle effects —

 

 

 

Water and light colors will reflect light back into (and throughout) the room. That helps the picture

You can get nice portraits with nice early morning sun – they prefer not shooting between 9 and 4 because the sun is directly overhead.

Use Harsh Lighting for Strong Contrast

 

 

 

 

 

Light Direction

Patterns can be created by side or top lighting

 

4 Directions of Light Every Photographer Should Know

 

The direction of natural light can dramatically alter the way an entire scene is represented. A resourceful photographer will use this to their advantage. It’s not overly technical and requires no additional gear. The key is your ability to recognize the four basic types of light. Front, 45 degree, 90 degree, and backlight. Let’s take a look at the characteristics of each.

1) Front Lighting

Also known as flat lighting, this occurs when the sun is at your back. The shadow falls directly behind the subject, essentially hiding it from the viewer. It’s typical to find this at mid-afternoon when the sun is high in the sky. If your goal is to evenly illuminate your entire scene, this can be quite effective. Since the sun is strong at this time, a photographer must expose carefully to avoid blowing out (overexposing) the highlights.

2) 45 Degree  

Utilizing shadow in a composition is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, 45 degree light can reveal the shape and dimensions of a subject. You’ll find it when the sun is lower in the sky. To help visualize how this works, think of the light source as coming over just one shoulder. It’s more directional than front lighting, and therefore more dramatic. Even something as mundane as rust can take on a mysterious beauty when lit this way.

3) 90 Degree

An opportunity to capture 90 degree light happens twice each day, shortly after sunrise and just before sunset. This type of light is more extreme than 45 degree, completely illuminating only one portion of the subject while leaving the rest in heavy shadow. The bold contrast can make for an edgier exposure, adding a sense of drama to an image. With side light, a photographer can also accentuate the finer details of a surface’s texture.

4) Backlight

Of all the directions of light, perhaps there’s no finer option than shooting directly into the sun. You can use it to bring landscapes to life, add visual interest to portraits, or highlight the color of a flower petal. Keep in mind, backlighting can be a tough scene for a camera to expose properly. If you’re not comfortable with metering manually, take several shots using exposure compensation. Bracketing this way is a quick way to handle an otherwise tricky scenario. As you’ll quickly see, the results are well worth the effort.

To help reinforce these ideas, take photo hikes at different times of day. Photographers who limit their shooting to sunrise and sunset are missing a wealth of opportunity.  Each direction of light has qualities worth exploring. Some subjects will work better at high-noon, while others are more suited for 90 degree side light. This knowledge can be used to transform an ordinary scene into something splendid.

 

Examples of what will work for Light as the Subject

 

For this assignment – do not use the following lighting

• Flat
• Front lighting
• Artificial lights
• Flash

 

 

One of the best pieces of advice — she would go ‘feature hunting’ and she would look at the film and see 4 different scenes … go to one location, and be patient. Get yourself positioned, and wait for the picture to develop  … the objective is to make ‘here,’ the best picture possible.

 

Understanding other photographs and the lighting and techniques used is the best way to recreate similar images yourself. If you like another photographer’s work, make sure you understand what they did, and then

 

Assignment –

 

Light IS the subject

6 photos.

Shoot the same subject from different angles at the same time of day

OR – the same subject at 3 different times of day