Light

• Source of Light• Intensity of Light• Quality of Light• Direction of Light

Sources of Light• Photography is all about light, the amount and

the direction. • Main light sources are:– The Sun– Artificial light such as lamps, household lighting etc.– You need to manipulate the scene to create the

effect you want, this might mean moving a light on a stand or moving your subject relative to the sun, or waiting for a better time of day to get the effect you want.

Sunlight• For us the most common light source.

Time of Day• If you are able to choose the time of day to

shoot your pictures, try to pick a time when the sun is low in the sky, either shoot in the early morning or late afternoon.

• A nice side effect of shooting in the early morning or late afternoon is that the colour of the light is 'warmer', reds and yellows are stronger which generally gives a more pleasing effect.

Artificial Light• Lamps, candles, flashlights, etc.

Intensity of light• The first property of light to deal with is intensity or

brightness.

• The only key to intensity is making sure that there is enough to make an image on the film. – The light that enters our camera lens is either direct light from a

light source such as the sun or light bulb – OR it is reflected light that has come from light that has bounced

off of people or things.

• What happens to our images without enough light?

Quality of Light• Light Quality is the most important characteristic of light for the

photographer for it sets the mood of a shot. Quality of light breaks down into two types -- hard or soft light.

• Hard light– distinct shadows – It comes from a point light source– It is a harsh light.

• Soft light is the opposite– from a reflected source or a broad source. – indirect light – frequently found in the shade

• Light quality is affected mostly by change in subject or camera position or the use of reflectors or fill flash.

Direction of light

• The direction of the light falling on your subject - you need to look at your subject carefully and watch how the shadows fall.

Front light-Front light eliminates shadows but also flattens a subject, losing depth and texture.

Side lightSide light makes the subject stand out from the background, giving it a more 3D appearance.

BacklightBacklight softens the quality of the light as the subject gets mostly reflected light on its surface.

Silhouettes

Assignment 1• Take 10 photographs using different lighting techniques • TRY SOME OF THESE:

– Indoors with flash (artificial lights on and off)– Indoors without flash (artificial lights on and off)– Indoors with natural lighting (window)– Outdoors in the bright sun– Outdoors in the shade– Outdoors with flash– Outdoors with back lighting– Outdoors with side lighting– Outdoors with front lighting– Indoors with back lighting– Indoors with front lighting– Indoors with side lighting

• You do not have to take photographs of all of these…..BUT each photograph that you take needs to have different lighting.

• Write the lighting situation on a blank sheet of paper. Keep track of which photograph is taken in which lighting situation.