Lesson 26: Lighting, Part 2

While you may not always be able to control the lighting, you can control where you are in relation to the light to achieve the same effect.

After the previous lesson on flash and modifiers, it’s time to expand on lesson 12 from the first semester and dive deeper into the lighting itself, how to best utilize it, artistic representation, and lighting design. And while there are lots of technical terms, artistic ambiguities, and subjective preferences, it all comes down to being intentional with your choices and understanding how to turn those choices into a finished photo.

Qualities of Light

We’ve previously discussed the differences in hard vs. soft and specular vs. diffuse, so let’s get into why we might want one over another. The quick and easy answer that gets thrown around is “use the softest light possible” but in reality that’s often not the best choice.

The hard, yet diffused light in this scene helps give a strong contrast with deep shadows that separates the subject from the background without the need for a shallow depth of field. The diffusion keeps the reflective surfaces from becoming too distracting, as well as helping to maintain a more even exposure across the highlights.

-Soft, Diffuse

This lighting works great for simple portraits where you want the subject’s skin to look smooth and even, or in busy scenes where the subject may stand out through color, framing, or texture. The light is even, with fewer shadows to worry about becoming a distraction. It’s fairly flattering for portraits, can work great for getting an even exposure on a landscape, but often lacks the more distinct shadows that can add dimension to a scene.

-Soft, Specular

While the difference between a diffuse and specular light can be subtle at times, this style works well for portraits when you want a softer or more flattering light but still want a wider dynamic range. It can be useful in a scene to create a more dynamic image while keeping everything brightly lit, or in adding further contrast to a low-key scene where you still want the model in a softer light.

-Hard, Specular

While this is generally considered unflattering for portraits, it can look amazing in landscape or street photography. The high contrast between highlights and shadows can create a dynamic scene based on lighting over color, or can be used to make certain colors stand out. The hard lines of shadow can also be used as a compositional element that interact with the scene.

-Hard, Diffuse

While this is much the same as using the more specular light, diffusion over a hard light can smooth out the brightest highlights and let you get a slightly more evenly lit subject in an otherwise high-contrast scene. This can also be slightly more flattering for models when using a hard light, although correct placement of lights (or positioning of the subject when using ambient light) will still have a greater effect on “flattering” light than the diffusion.

Positioning Lights

Modifiers may drastically change the quality of light hitting your subject, but an even greater difference can be made simply by repositioning your lights (or moving your subject in relation to a light). With a smaller light source, the difference of a few inches (or centimeters, for most of the world) can have a significant impact on the final result. For outdoor photos, the difference of a few minutes can impact how the sun hits your subject. In general though, changes in light are measured in broader movements, or in the subjects relation to the light. This leaves a lot of variation and overlap when discussing lighting position but helps give a standard nomenclature to use when planning or discussing your shots.

-Near vs. Far

This is the broadest term, but also one of the most useful. It originates in the film industry where exact lighting descriptions are impractical due to actor’s movement through a scene. The fact that it covers a broad variety of lighting is what makes it useful though, and can often be used to tie fairly unrelated shots together in a fairly consistent manner.

The premises of near or far lighting relies on the subject’s position in relation to both the camera and the key light. In portraiture, for example, imagine looking top-down on the model and draw a line running through their head in the direction they’re looking. If the camera and light are on the same side of the line, that’s near lighting. If the camera and light are on opposite sides of the imaginary line, it’s far lighting. While this seems too simplistic to have much impact, simply having the subject turn their head can completely change the look. And if building a series of photos, getting that consistent look of near or far lighting can tie together photos from different sessions taken on different days, while using different lighting setups.

When discussing landscape or street photography the dividing line can sometimes be harder to define but is equally important in creating a consistent body of work. The dividing line may be the face of a building, a terrain feature, or any number of things within the scene that are intended to be a primary subject. This can also help to highlight a non-obvious subject within a scene by tying the lighting on that particular subject to the rest of a set, while the more obvious subject may have a different light.

-Feathering

To “feather” a light simply means to turn the light. The source stays at the same point, but the angle is changed in relation to the subject.

This can be used to get a more dynamic shot with a softer light source, as it’s essentially shrinking the source in one direction. The downside is that less of the light’s power is aimed at the subject, so that will need to be factored into the exposure. Especially when balancing with background or ambient light.

-Flagging

While we’ve discussed what flags are, using them can sometimes be difficult as it’s an extra piece of gear to coordinate. In general, when placing the flag between the light and subject you have more control and more coverage the closer the flag is to the light. You can also move it farther from the light though and get a more precise coverage of a smaller area. It’s generally pretty simple to pick up on as you experiment, but you can also feather the flag to get even more precise control or place the flag between the light and camera to prevent flaring in the lens (similar to using a lens hood).

-Diffusing

Again, this was discussed in the previous lesson but there is more to a diffuser’s application than just knowing what it does. It can soften the light on a subject, but if the subject is lit separately it can also be used to soften the light on the background to add another form of separation between background and subject. And as any diffusion material will also reduce the brightness of the original source, diffusion can be used as a partial flag to dim light on the background without blocking it completely.

-Adding them all together

Lighting descriptions can sound complicated and full of technical jargon, but if you break it down into individual pieces it becomes much more manageable. Let’s look at this image as an example:

When breaking down the lighting used in an image, it's important to look at the shadows for clues on where the light is positioned, how hard of soft the light is, and if there is a single light or multiple sources. In the same way, we can look to the highlights to see how diffused the lighting is.

Other context clues may include the background, reflective surfaces, catch-lights in the eyes, and textures.

The ability to "read" the lighting in a photo can help when planning your own photographs by giving descriptive terms that will allow you to build up concepts based on reference photos or by giving you the knowledge to know how and when to deviate from a reference.

To begin, we can assume that this is a hard light source based on the sharp edges on the shadows. It also has a steep gradient between whites, highlights, and mid-tones so we can make the judgement that it’s also using a specular light. Putting this together with the background clues of an open fence, trees in the background, and subject matter that is farm related, you can make a strong inference that this shot was taken in natural lighting. And going by the angle of light, we can identify that it was either taken in the morning or evening, likely outside of “golden hour” but closer to those times than noon.

So any control over lighting in this situation was done by time of day and position of the camera. We know that is was taken with little to no cloud cover as the shadows are sharp and distinct, and with the camera nearly perpendicular to the path of the sun (so facing north if it was taken in the evening, or south if it was taken in the morning).

Going by that positioning, we can describe the shot as taken with near lighting, side-lit or slightly backlit, with a single hard, specular light.

Artistic Use

Once you understand the basics of exposure and lighting, it’s fairly simple to get a well-lit photo. There’s more to a photo than just having the shot well lit however, and a large part of creative lighting is deciding what parts of the scene to light, and from what direction.

Do you want only the subject lit? Do you need some of the scene illuminated as well, but want it’s exposure to be darker than the subject? Or do you prefer more of a silhouette? And does that silhouette have a well-lit background, or a single strong source? For a set or series, how similar does the light need to be? Will it look cohesive simply by choosing near or far lighting? Do you want a single hard light in your shots to tie them together, or do you want an even more uniform look and need the same light placement? Does hard vs. soft matter as much to you as that similar lighting placement?

Knowing what you want the end result to look like, and by extension where to place the lights (or place your subject within the light), is an important step in planning a photo. Deciding on the lighting can sometimes be as simple as using what’s practical and available, but utilizing the lights can be purely artistic.

Scenes that are darker or more low-key tend to have a more imposing, ominous, or lonely, or more intimate feel to them. In contrast, brighter scenes tend to be more cheerful, carefree, or personal. The exact emotion evoked can vary quite a bit depending on the exact lighting but the different styles tend to fall in those categories.

You can use that emotional response either to strengthen the response from your audience by using a lighting scheme that works with your composition or to add a dissonance by working opposite to your composition and coloration. A well-lit, evenly exposed shot that has harmonious but faded colors and a smaller subject centered with lots of negative space can use the brighter emotions of the lighting and colors with the more “lonely” emotions from the negative space and muted tones to cause a contrast in emotional response that can be stronger than a single emotion due to it’s conflicting nature. In the same vein, a low-key close up with bright colors can cause conflicting responses that build on each other and add to the effect.

On the other hand, conflicting responses can also simply make the shot look unintentional. It’s definitely worth experimenting with but focus more on what you feel from the result than any chart or list of what styles give what emotions. Knowing the general response is a good starting point, but don’t be afraid to deviate from the general consensus if your lighting isn’t giving you the emotional response you want out of your shot.

Planning the Scene

While some scenes may be more spontaneous and not allow for strict planning, having an idea of what you wish to capture can allow you to position yourself to still use the lighting to your advantage.

In this photo for example, there was less than a minute between seeing the scene unfolding and losing the chance to get the shot. Prior planning of the lighting to keep a consistent look across a series of photos taken throughout the year allowed for an unplanned shot that fit thematically with other shots taken months apart.

To get to the most basic question of lighting setup- Where do you want the light to hit?

Knowing the answer to that question will dictate where your lights need to be, or for a natural light environment where (and when) you need to position yourself. Do you want a dark, low-key portrait with Rembrandt lighting? You’ll need a single light source that’s highly directional, either from a grid or flags, with the light positioned based on where the model is facing to get the shadows on the face in the correct place. Are you looking to get a dramatic landscape? Besides finding the right location, you will also want find the right time and weather to fit your vision. Do you want a quaint coffee shop scene? When does the light shine through the window, or do you have lights you can use to replicate that?

How much of the room needs lit? You may need to either add more lights (or reflectors), or you may need to use flags to keep it from being too bright. Maybe a scrim would help to act as a flag without cutting the light completely on the background. Haze could be used to soften the entire scene without needing to use a softer light and can help the light stand out as an element on its own.

If you plan how you want the light to look, working back to where you need to place lights or position your subject becomes easier and involves less trial to get the scene you want.