More Looking For Light

More Looking For Light

by William Lulow

Light is really the defining element for most photographs. In the two-dimensional world of images, it can really make a difference in our perceptions of people, events, things or places. Light directs our attention to things or people around us. Here is an example:

Look at how the light creates interest by lighting things up from behind. Notice the highlights on people’s heads? See the details in the foreground leaves? Look at the shadows of the couple eating which are coming toward the camera! This was an ordinary snapshot with my iPhone 13 Pro. I positioned myself in the shade of the tree so that the BACKLIGHT wouldn’t cause a flare in the image. This is an example of “found” light. We have to be on the lookout for scenes like this.

Here’s another example where the light is coming from behind the subject. You can tell by looking at the shadows and the highlights on the leaves. This is another example of found light. The way to notice light is to study it. Study the effects of light placement. Here is an example of what we call an EDGE LIGHT:

Notice what it does to the subject’s hair. This is also called an ACCENT LIGHT because it is highlighting a part of the scene. Once you are aware of this kind of use of light, you will ALWAYS notice it in nature:

This is an example of an EDGE LIGHT made by the sun. Depending on what you intend to show as the photographer, you might need to fill in some shadow detail either with artificial light or by exposure. In this case, I had to be content with just letting the shadows fall as they might.

Another lighting we see a lot is the SIDE LIGHT:

Look as how the lighting just hits the side of the face causing the opposite side to be in shadow. Now look at this photograph of the New York City skyline:

By choosing a time of day that was optimal and a position for the camera that showed the light coming from the side, I used the natural light to create the SIDE LIGHT effect here. All the left sides of the buildings are in shadow and the right sides are lit up! I knew I wanted to create a side light effect here to make the scene have a lot of contrast to make the buildings stand out from the sky.

These are examples of how knowing your studio lighting setups can help you previsualize scenes you come across in nature and use natural light to its greatest effect.

This is a scene with almost all BACK-LIGHT.

Here, there is enough SIDE LIGHT to be able to see all the texture in the tree trunk. Whenever you want to show texture, use a side light.

Now when shooting products or still life images, keep the same information in mind. You can introduce highlights in an image by lighting it from behind. Here’s an example:

This pepper was lit from the top and partially from behind with a large softbox. Notice what the highlights do. They attract attention to the top and with addition of some drops of glycerin, make the whole top much more photogenic. This was lit with one light only. So another point to mention is that anything light in color or tone STANDS OUT in an image. Anything dark in tone or color RECEDES.

Here’s a naturally lit version of this same principle. See how the sides of the dory stand out and create almost a frame around it? Again, it’s the backlighting/top lighting that makes this image.

So, once you understand what artificial light does to an image, you will always be aware of it. Look at these posts from time to time to heighten your perceptions of what light does and how it makes you feel about your images.