Basics of Photography Importance of the direction of lighting
The most important element of photography is the light. Without light there can be no photograph. The amount and direction of light will determine the quality of your photographs. The difference between a professional photographer and just someone who knows how to use a camera is how well they can ‘play’ with light. Light adds depth, dimension and tone to your picture.
Direction of light can be classified into three main categories depending on the source of light in relation to the subject. These categories are: Front light, side light and back light. The type of light can be natural or artificial but they will all have almost similar characteristics. Here is a brief look into these light sources and how their direction relative to the camera position affects the quality of photographs.
Front lighting
Front light could be high front light or the normal front light. The high front light is the one from the sunlight when the light is directly falling on the face of the subject in high noon while the normal front light is created by any other light that illuminates the subject from the front or the light is placed behind the photographer. Camera flash is one of the most common sources of front light. This type of lighting is the easiest to achieve and it reveals most of the subject’s details since very few shadows are involved. The downside to this lighting is that the subjects are ‘flat’ lit and they appear too two dimensional. In case of sunlight, the light may cause your human subjects to squint and this can bring very undesirable expressions.
Side lighting
Side lighting is achieved when the light is at an angle in relation to the camera’s position or cameraman’s view point. Side lighting has been described as the proper lighting to adopt especially for portrait photography. Since the type of lighting creates shadows on the subjects, the form and depth is emphasized. With small and large shadows falling on the surfaces of the subjects, texture in enhanced unlike in front lighting where images appear very flat.
Side lighting is ideal for landscape photos and generally all other forms of photography. Side lighting gives an illusion that an object is 3 dimensional. Getting proper side lighting can be challenging since it will involve a bit of scale and experience otherwise some details may be covered by too much shadowing or less shadowing may make the photo lose its texture and 3D effect. One way to achieve perfect side lighting is by moving the light to make desirable adjustments. You can also move your subject or you can move the camera to a strategic position. If you are shooting outdoors, it may be difficult to move the light or even the subject so the best option is to move your camera or if you are depending on sunlight, you should wait until the sun is in the right position before you take the photos.
Backlighting
In backlighting, the light falls from behind the subject. This type of lighting is used to achieve dramatic effects though it’s not very easy to get due to metering issues with most cameras. With so much light coming directly to the camera, dark subjects end up losing many details and for human subjects, faces may appear dark. This can be rectified by using additional front light or even side lighting where applicable.
Final word
This article is about the main lighting direction and not about everything you should know about direction of lighting. There are many other ways you can make your lighting effective by shifting your camera position, the subject or even the source of light if that is possible to achieve the best results. But after all is said and done it’s now up to you to take your camera and start chasing the light!
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Photos by Nathan Gitonga
