Light Considerations

There are three things you need to take into account when looking at light: color, quality, and direction. Since we're now shooting black and white film, color won't enter into our conversation until later when we shoot color.

When we talk about "quality" of light, we are referring to how "hard" or "soft" the light is. Hard light is often "direct" light, while soft light is often "diffuse" light. Go outside right now and look at the trees. If it's noon and sunny with no clouds, you're likely to see "hard" shadows under the trees. If it's 4:00 p.m. and cloudy, you may see no shadows. If it's 9:00 p.m., you're likely to see shadows again, this time caused by streetlights. Let's consider each lightsource and the quality.

Bright sun at noon: the light source is small (the sun, so far away) and direct, creating hard shadows under the trees. This is "hard/direct" light.

Cloudy sky at 4:00 pm: the light source is huge (the cloud cover, diffusing the sunlight, much closer to you) and indirect (coming at an angle as the sun sets). This is "soft/diffuse" light.

Night: The streetlight is similar to the sun... small and direct, creating hard shadows where it hits the trees.

Which light is better? None is better or worse, they are just different. Hard/direct light is very dramatic, with great contrast between the lit and shadow areas of the subject. Soft/diffuse light is very flattering, with small contrast and even lighting across the subject. It really depends on the subject and the mood you wish to create.

Here are some samples we shot in class of hard and soft lighting. Be sure to notice the shadow areas IN YOUR VIEWFINDER before you snap the shutter. Even better, move your subject and/or yourself to create shadows where you want them to be, before you look through the viewfinder.

Here are some samples from class.