Light. Camera. Action.

Examination of back, side and the dreaded front-lighting, hard and soft light, available light and on-camera flash.

INTRODUCTION

There are two things you need if you are going to make a photograph: one, obviously, is a camera. But the camera is just a tool -- a means to record what is put in front of it -- and by far the least important thing in photography. You need light to make photographs. If you want to be a photographer, you have to become a master of light. We live in a three dimensional world, of height, width and depth, but photographs have only two dimensions. Light is the tool we use to give the illusion of depth in an image.

Light sets the mood of an image. You see it every day, but most people don’t really pay attention to light. They take it for granted. Photographers obsess over light. They know are its qualities, and can play with them, to make an successful image. To know light, you have to know the qualities of light.

QUALITIES OF LIGHT

INTENSITY:

HARD LIGHT: Your on camera flash. The sun at noon. A bare light bulb. Quality: Directional light, contrasty, with abrupt transition between highlight and shadow. Depending on direction, can be moody, dramatic light. Emphasizes texture. Was popular in the 30s and 40s, when artificial light sources became available. Used effectively in portraits by Karsh. Harder light (at sunrise) is favored by architectural and landscape photographers, for its great ability to show depth.

SOFT LIGHT: Cloudy days, shadows, through a window on the north side if your house.

Quality: Diffused light. Flat. Gradual transition from highlight to shadow . Great for flattering portraits. Used by Annie Leibovitz. Most food and product photography is also done using softer light. Technical: With light, the smaller the source and the further from the subject, the harder the light. Large sources, close to the subject,
create soft light.

DIRECTION OF LIGHT:The angle of light as it strikes the subject.

FRONT LIGHT: On camera flash. Flat, shows little detail.

TOP LIGHT: High noon. Contrasty light.

SIDE LIGHT: Early morning or late evening light. Shows dimension.

Gives texture to buildings and landscapes.

FRANKENSTEIN LIGHT: Bottom lit. Used in horror movies, because of its disturbing feeling.

BACKLIGHT: Dramatic light. Silhouette, if exposed for sky or great for portraits, if exposed for subject. Gives dimension to landscapes. Beware of flare!

FILL LIGHT: A secondary light source hitting the subject. Can be natural (like snow or sand on a beach, which fills shadows)

COLOR OF LIGHT:

Your eyes automatically “color-balance” the light you see in the world -- taking the green out of fluorescent bulbs, the warm red tones out of household incandescent lights. Your camera – whether film or digital – doesn’t behave the same way. With natural light, the color changes constantly, from an hour before dawn, through midday sun and until an hour after sunset. The first hour of light in the morning and the last hour in the evening are known as a photographer’s “magic” hours. The light is low on the horizon, making a flattering angle for portraits. Instead of just being lit by a tiny bright sun, the entire sky turns a warn color, making it softer light than at midday Want to make great portraits and great landscapes -- start with the best light -- that comes at the least convenient time. Wait a few hours, and you are dealing with artificial light sources. These have their own color temperatures. Fluorescent light has an excess of green to its color. Tungsten lights, like your household bulbs, have an excess of yellow -- making for warm photos. Mixed light: Using flash, you can get weird color mixes, as the green fluorescent light fills shadows and the daylight-balanced strobe lights the subject.

Also AMOUNT OF LIGHT (aka available darkness). When the sun sets, it is still possible to make very cool images. You need a camera support, like a tripod. Ideally a cable release or remote shutter.Take a meter reading. Be aware of reciprocity failure-- film’s tendency to underexpose on long exposures. At exposure longer than 1 second, double the recommended exposure, more than 10 seconds of exposure and you need to quadruple the exposure.

TIP: If you want to know how a portrait was lit, take a close look at the eyes. They reflect the light - what photographers refer to as catch- lights. Big reflections are from big light sources like softboxes and reflectors and umbrellas. Small intense catchlights are from smaller sources. In beauty shots, usually portraits of women, their are often catchlights on the top and bottom of the eye, to fill in shadows.

ASSIGNMENT: Try making the best use of available light. Make photographs using front, side and back light, hard and soft light.