Without light, there is no photograph. The word itself literally means “light drawing” – “photo”=“light” and “graph”=“drawing”. What separates a great photograph from a mediocre one? The quality of light. The subject in the photograph may help a little, but the true difference will always be lighting. You can take two photographs of the same subject, one poorly lit, and the other well lit. The outcome will be completely different. Same subject, same pose, one looks awesome, and one looks like it needs a courtesy flush. The great Joe McNally says “Light speaks, just like language. You can make someone look like an angel, or the devil.” Light allows you to bring your vision into being. Light is photography. Not Nikon or Canon, not Photoshop or Lightroom, not actions or presets. Burn it into your brain. Photography is light. Light is photography. And recognizing good light will be the single greatest advancement one can have as a photographer. Some have the God-given ability to recognize it. Others have to work hard at learning to see it. And we all would do well to spend our time learning to see and use good light.
So what is good light? Well, good light is . . . relative. That’s right, no silver bullet here. Good light is completely dependant on the vision you have for your subject. Say you want to shoot a beautiful portrait of a woman. You want the shot to be soft, airy, serene. You will never get that shot if you are using is harsh, contrasty light. Or say you envision something edgy, dark, and dramatic. Won’t happen if your light is soft and creamy. We need to understand light. Not megapixels. Not Brands. Not bokah. Lets say it again class: Light is photography. Photography is light.
To understand how to capture our vision, we must first understand a couple of different qualities of light. The first quality of light is known as specular light. Specular light is what gives us high contrast and sharply defined shadows. Its often referred to as harsh light. Specular light comes from a very small light source. Think of a flashlight. If you are in a dark room and turn on a flashlight, you get a lot of contrast and well defined shadows. Another example is the noon-day sun on a clear day. The sun is relatively small, a mere dot in the sky. And from that small light source, you get lots of contrast and crisp black shadows on the sidewalk. To achieve harsh, contrasty light with well defined shadows, you need a specular light source. The light needs to be tiny.
The second quality of light is known as defused light. Defused light is what gives you the creamy light with low contrast and very soft shadows. Its often referred to as soft light. Defused light comes from a very large light source. Think of a picture window. If you are in an otherwise dark room and the daylight comes in though a picture window, you get low contrast and soft shadows. Another example is the noon-day sun on an overcast day. The sun is illuminating the clouds and thus the entire sky is the light source. The light source is relatively huge. And from that light source, it gives very low contrast and extremely soft shadows. To achieve soft creamy light with soft shadows, you need a defused light source. The light needs to be huge.
One thing to mention here is the brightness, or luminance. Brightness has no effect on whether the light is specular or diffused. Think of it this way. In a pitch black room, light a single candle. This is a very small light source. It is also very dim. Now, in the same pitch black room, turn on one of those LED key-chains. You know the ones that have a single LED sticking out so you can see a keyhole better. Its about the same size as a candle flame. But it is much brighter. And both create very high levels of contrast and deep black shadows. Their brightness levels are very different, and they will illuminate a subject to very different degrees. However, since they are both very small, they are very specular in nature. So again, it is the SIZE of the light source that determines specular or diffused light. Not the brightness.
Now, the quality of light ranging between specular and defuse is a sliding scale. Its not an “either/or” option. But knowing the differences between the two extremes is a great place to begin. Say you’re shooting outside on a sunny day. You want the light on your subject to be softer than what the sun is giving you. You know you need to diffuse the light a bit. The sun is a small light source (specular), and to diffuse it you have to make it larger. So how do you make the sun larger? By cheating. A handy thing to have in your bag is a large 5-in-1 reflector. One of the “colors” in the reflector is translucent. You can place this between the sun and your subject. The translucent reflector is illuminated by the sun which now becomes your light source. And the reflector, being much closer to your subject, is relatively much larger than the sun (The bare sun is a small dot, the reflector is several inches across). You have re-created a similar effect to an overcast sky. You now have made the light on your subject softer. It may not be as soft as if it were actually overcast, but it’s a heck of a lot better than direct sunlight. Now, am I saying everyone needs to have a 5-in-1 reflector? Not at all. I’ve used one a total of one time. It simply doesn’t help me achieve my photographic vision. But if it would help you achieve your vision, then by all means, use it. This is simply one scenario and one solution. You get the idea. Have a vision. Assess the situation. Set it up. Press the button.
Today, I have a homework assignment for you. Go to any of the mass photo sharing websites out there (my favorite is www.photo.net). Once you’re there, take some time looking at the type of photos you enjoy. I like portraiture. As you look through them, you’ll come across those that stop you in your tracks. When that happens, don’t just move on. Take the time to study those images. What made you stop and take a longer look? Why do you like it? What type of light did they use? Specular or defused? Then post a comment her on the blog with a link to the image and let us know your thoughts on it.
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