The word photography means: “writing with light”. Indeed, without light there would be no photography…not much else either.

Light is a part of all visual art, but photography is unique in that it actually records light. When you take a photograph, you are quite simply recording the light that illuminates the objects you see.

Since light is the basis of every photo, it would seem wise to learn something about it. Learn to use light effectively and you will soon go from recording images, to creating photographs…no one topic you study in photography will advance your skills more than learning to see light.

Catching The Light

The single most important step you can take to becoming a better photographer is learning to see light. And you are about to discover that this is one topic you can learn both with and without your camera.

Look around you right now…look at the light that is illuminating everything you can see. It is easy to see the objects that the light is making visable…but get past the object and focus only on the light itself.

Start with the highlights, the lightest areas on the objects. Notice how the highlights appear on shiney objects, on glass, on light objects and on dark objects.

Notice where on the object the brightest highlights appear and how they go from light to dark. Does the highlight end sharply or does it gradually blend into darker tones? How does the highlight change as you move the object around, or as you move around the object?

The Shadow Knows

And then notice the shadows…not just the shadow cast by the object, but also those dark areas on the object itself where the light begins to fall off.

Are the shadows sharply defined, or is the transition from light to dark gradual? What direction is the light coming from? Does it come from a single direct source, such as the sun, or a lamp?

Or is it indirect, soft light coming from a large area, reflected from light walls or diffused by clouds or an overcast sky? The shadows can tell you a lot about the light…such as the type of light, its direction and how intense or contrasty the light is.

And In The Middle We Have…

Between the highlights and shadows are the midtones. These tones will vary from very few in a contrasty light, to a great many in soft light. A well balanced photo (lightwise at least) will have a few light tones, a few dark tones and lots of midtones.

Now this makes your camera’s meter happy because, as we learned in the auto exposure section, the meter averages the light based on this kind of balanced scene.

However, as you become more aware of light itself, you will likely abandon your desire to please the meter and venture into those areas that don’t always conform to your meter’s comfort zone. So notice how these middle tones appear on different objects and with different types of light.

The Quality Of Light

Light is either hard or soft, and the first step is seeing each.Hard light comes from a single spot or source point and is very directional. The sun is a very good example of a hard light. The light from an on-camera flash is another good example.

Because this type of light is very directional you get very sharp, well defined shadows. On the flower to the left, which was shot in direct sunlight, you can see the sharp distinct shadows each peddle casts. Look also at the detail in the center of the flower.

The next type of light you should learn to see is soft light.Soft light is very diffused light and multi-directional. Overcast and cloudy days are common examples of this type of light. Open shade is another example.

Soft light will illuminate objects very evenly, and produce very soft subtle shadows, or sometimes no shadows at all.

This is the same exact flower as above, but shot in open shade. Note the subtle shadows that each peddle casts and note the fine detail in the middle of the flower.

You may also have noticed that the green leaves in the background are not lost in blackness as they are in the first photo. This is due to the difference in brightness range, which will be covered later.

Within these two broad categories of light quality there is a wide range of subtle variations. There can be combinations of both hard and soft light, direct but diffused light, light bouncing off highly reflective objects.

The more you study light, the more sensitive you will become to its many qualities. Now let’s look at another important aspect of light… direction.

Walk Around And See The Light

As you practice seeing the qualities of light, also notice the direction of the light. Walk around your subject and notice any differences you see.

Notice where the highlights and the shadows on various subjects appear.

And look at any details in the subject and note if they are emphasized or made less apparent by the direction of the light. Let’s look at the 3 general lighting directions and some of the effects each has on a subject.

Fontal Lighting

Start with the light behind you, falling directly on the subject. This is what we call frontal lighting and it has a flattening effect on most subjects, that is they will appear less 3 dimentional.

In sunlight the shadows will fall behind the subject. For people pictures, frontal sunlight can cause squinting, and make faces look flatter. Fine detail will be less apparent, and little clues that tell us the texture of objects will be lost.

Indoors, on-camera flash is a good example of frontal lighting. While frontal, or over-the-shoulder, lighting may be useful at times, it is more often a way to turn an interesting scene into a dull snapshot.

Side Lighting

Next move so the light is coming from the side of the subject. If your subject has a strong texture, such as the bark of a tree, you will see how the texture becomes more pronounced. Even fine texture will be emphasized.

As you should already know, shadows fall to the opposite side of where the light is located. This is what brings out the detail of textures. The highlights on the high parts of a textured surface next to the shadows on the low parts give you the feel of the texture.

Pay close attention to both the highlight and shadow areas when studying sidelight.

On people it may cause half the face to be in shadow, or cause long nose shadows on part of the face. It can also emphasize the texture of the face… that is skin pores, wrinkles (character lines if you prefer) and is why soft indirect lighting is preferred for portrait photos.

But the face texture may make the picture more interesting, so you will want to emphasize it. The choice of the quality of light as well as it’s direction can both be very important to the results you are trying to get.

Back Lighting

Back lighting is one of the most challenging types of light to use, but it also can produce some of the most interesting photos you will take. As you move around so the light is coming from behind your subject, you will see less highlight area and more of the shadow area.

This increases the 3 dimentional feeling of many subjects. Rounded and cylindrical objects appear more round when the light comes from the rear.

Look at round rocks, lightpoles and trees and learn to see this effect. A cube, such as a house, will be more 3 dimensional if there is a clear tonal difference between the front and side.

Try it. Stand facing a corner of a building and shoot a picture with the light evenly striking both walls. Then shoot it again with the light striking only a single wall, leaving the other in shade.

Backlight is also a great way to make subjects stand out, especially against similiarly toned backgrounds. By outlining the subject with light, you help separate it from the background and thus make it more dominant.

It also can make a group of objects seem less like a solid mass by contrasting light areas against dark areas.

As I said earlier, backlight is one of the most challenging types of light to use. Exposures must be carefully figured so you get detail in the highlighted areas and the shadow areas, if both are important to the final image.

You may need to use spot metering and exposure lock to get accurate readings. Also, you will have to watch for lens flare, which can result if the light stikes the lens. A lens shade or even your hand shading the front of the lens may help.

But the results you can get with this type of lighting are often spectacular, and well worth the effort to learn how and when to use it.

When The Light Is Right…Write!

Learning to see and use light in photography is a journey, and the more sensitive you become to the infinite subleties of light, the more you’ll find you can make ordinary subjects look exceptional.

Light has a powerful effect on every photograph you make. It can emphasize the important and play down the insignificant. It can control the way the eye moves about your composition. It can set the mood, create mystery or drama. It does all this and more, regardless of whether you intend it to or not.

You will learn as you explore the other topics…composition, texture, mood…that all include some aspect of using light effectively. So learn to see the light around you.

And when you look at photos that you like, notice the part that light plays in the photo. Ask yourself how you might change the lighting in some way, and how it would affect the picture.

Rather than looking for that unique subject that has never been photographed (good luck on finding it)…instead, learn how to use light to make the common subject look unique.

And don’t forget…take lots of pictures.

Composition… what to do with all those elements in the viewfinder.

Here’s to better photography…

Al Hannigan