PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHTING

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the basic theories of photographic lighting in terms of outdoor lighting, existing light and electronic flash lighting.

Light is the most important ingredient in photography. Light makes photography possible by reflecting off the subject, entering the camera and exposing the film.

Scientists tell us that light is produced in waves. In many respects the waves of light can be compared to sound waves. Sound waves vary in length and they register as different pitches; conversely, light waves register as different colors.

The intensity of light determines the brightness of the subject. The formula that determines this is the inverse-square law (fig. 11- 10). It demonstrates that light decreases as the square of the distance increases. Becoming familiar with this law will help you use light more effectively during photographic assignments.

The light falling upon a subject from a source is tilled incident light. When incident light strikes a surface, it will change direction; this change is called reflection. If the surface is smooth, the reflected light is said to be specular; however, if the surface is rough, the reflected light is diffused Most objects reflect back both types of light.

Reflection is an important characteristic of light. It is how our eyes can see objects and how film acquires a latent image.

In this section you will learn how to take pictures using the following types of light: l Outdoor l Existing . Electronic flash

OUTDOOR LIGHTING

Daylight and sunlight are not constant sources - they change hourly with the weather, seasons and latitude. The changes in daylight can radically alter the apparent shapes, colors, tones and forms of a scene. The color of sunlight changes most rapidly at the extreme end of the day. Strong color changes also occur during storms, haze or mist and on blue wintery days. The direction of the light changes as the sun moves across the sky. The shape and direction of shadows are altered, and the different directions of sunlight greatly affect the appearance of each scene.

The quality of sunlight depends on its strength and direction. Strong, direct sunlight is "hard" - it produces dark, well-defined shadows and brilliant highlights, with strong modeling of form. Sunlight is hardest on clear summer days at noon. Strong sunlight makes strong colors more brilliant, but weak colors pale. Sunlight is diffused by haze, mist and pollution in the air. This diffused or reflected light is softer; it produces weak soft shadows and dull highlights. Directionless, diffused sunlight is often called flat lighting. It produces fine detail but subdues or flattens form. In weak directionless sunlight, colors are muted - but strong, directionless, flat sunlight provides vibrant, well-saturated colors.

Frontlighting

The old adage about keeping the sun at your back is a good place to continue our discussion of outdoor lighting. The type of lighting created when the sun is in back of the photographer is called frontlighting. This over-the-shoulder lighting was probably the first photographic advice you ever received. It may seem to be a universal recipe for good photography, but it is not. The case against over-the-shoulder lighting is that it produces a flattened effect, doing nothing to bring out the detail or to provide an impression of depth. The eyes see in three dimensions and will compensate for unhelpful lighting. However, a photograph is twodimensional. To give an impression of f-, depth and texture to the subject, you should ideally have the light come from the side or at an angle (fig. 11-11)

Sidelighting

As you gain experience with various types of outdoor lighting, you will discover that interesting effects can be achieved by changing the angle of the light falling on your subject. As you turn your subject, change camera viewpoint or wait for the sun to move, the light falls more on one side, and more shadows are cast on the opposite side of the subject. For pictures where rendering texture is important, sidelighting is ideal.

Look at a brick wall, first in direct front sunlight and then in sidelighting. Direct front sunlight will show the pattern of the bricks and mortar in a flat, uninformative way, but sidelighting will create shadows in every little

PHC Ronald W. Bayles

Figure 11-11. - Frontlighting.

PHC Ronald W. Bayles

Figure 11-12. - Sidelighting.

crevice (fig. 11-12). The effect increases as the light is more parallel with the wall until long shadows fall from the smallest irregularity in the brickwork. This can give an almost three-dimensional effect to a photograph.

Sidelighting is particularly important with blackand-white photography which relies on gray tones, rather than color, to record the subject. Shadows caused by sidelighting reveal details that can create striking pictures from ordinary objects that otherwise, hardly would be worth photographing in black and white. Anything that has a noticeable texture - like the ripples of sand on a beach, for example - gains impact

Figure 11-13. - Backlighting without a reflector.

when lighted from the side. Landscapes, buildings and people all look better when lighted from the side.

This principle also applies to color photography. Color gives the viewer extra information about the subject that may make up for a lack of texture in frontlighting, but often the result is much better when lighted from the side.

Backlighting

When the sun is in front of the photographer, coming directly at the camera, you have what is referred to as backlighting (fig. 11-13); that is, the subject is backlighted. This type of lighting can be very effective for pictures of people outdoors in bright sunlight. In bright sunlight, when subjects are frontlighted, or even sidelighted, they may be uncomfortable and squint. Backlighting helps eliminate this problem. Backlighting may require the use of a reflector or fill-in flash to brighten the dark shadows and improve subject detail (fig. 11-14). Backlighting also is used to produce a silhouette effect.

When you use backlighting, avoid allowing sun rays to fall directly on the lens (except for special effects). Use a lens hood or some other means of shading the lens to prevent lens flare.

Figure 11-14. - Backlighting using a reflector.