{"id":22982,"date":"2019-04-23T15:37:51","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T00:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danbaileyphoto.com\/blog\/?post_type=tva_lesson&p=22982"},"modified":"2019-04-30T10:59:18","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T19:59:18","slug":"the-direction-of-light","status":"publish","type":"tva_lesson","link":"https:\/\/danbaileyphoto.com\/blog\/course\/the-direction-of-light\/","title":{"rendered":"The Direction of Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRONT LIGHTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

In most situations, shooting straight-on will generally give you good results, especially in especially pleasing light. Of course, that\u2019s not the only approach, nor is it necessarily the best approach. When you shoot with the light off to your side, you start to accentuate your shadows, which highlights shape and texture. Sidelighting and even backlighting can be very effective photography techniques that can produce dramatic results.<\/p>\n

SIDE LIGHTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Light that hits directly from the side creates pronounced shadows that emphasize shape and texture in your subjects. This effect gives your photos much more depth and dimension. While side lighting works great for landscapes, it\u2019s the ideal light for creating complex and dynamic portraits because it accentuates facial features and it allows you to add mystery and emotion to your photograph.<\/p>\n

By varying the angle of the light in relation to your subject, you can create different effects and moods to your imagery. The rule of thumb is that the farther the light is away from the front of your subject, the more pronounced your shadows will be, and thus, the more drama.<\/p>\n

Studio and location photographers often employ sidelight in their imagery by moving their flashes and strobes  If you\u2019re shooting outside, you obviously can\u2019t just move the sun, but you can change the angle of the light by simply altering your vantage point around your subject.<\/p>\n

If you want more depth in your photos, use side light. <\/p>\n

BACKLIGHTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you go to the extreme with your side lighting, so that the subject is directly between you and the sun, you have backlighting.<\/p>\n

With backlighting, you\u2019re actually looking into the shadows, an effect that creates, even textured illumination on your subjects. In addition, you\u2019ll oven have a \u201chalo\u201d of sunshine around the edge of the sunlight, which adds to the drama of the photo. <\/p>\n

The main benefits of shooting straight towards the light is that your camera is often pointed at the most brilliant colors of the scene. You can use this to your advantage. At dawn and dusk, the low sun illuminates the sky and any clouds that are present with a bright colorful glow. Even if you don\u2019t include the sun in your composition, you can focus on these especially bright hues.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The other obvious benefit with backlighting, is that\u2019s the exact light you need for creating silhouettes. As an added plus, you\u2019ll find that when you do this, you\u2019ll see that the direct sunlight often creates a halo effect, which illuminates the edges of your subject. The intensity of this effect is increased the closer you are to your subject. You can see this in the two images above.<\/p>\n

This type of situation also allows you to create a sunstar. You get this look by hiding the sun behind an object in your frame and having it just peek out a little bit, and by stopping your lens down to the neighborhood of f\/16.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Another cool effect with backlighting is that it will accentuate any kind of haze, dust, rain, hoar frost or falling snow in your scene. It\u2019s also the right kind of light for creating sun flares.<\/p>\n

If you scroll back up to the lead off picture in this post, you can see this effect with the hoar frost crystals that are being lit up by the sunlight. They actually become little tiny points of light themselves, taking on a visible shape that mirrors the aperture of your lens. (See below.)<\/p>\n

With translucent subject matter, such as leaves and foliage, the sunlight will shine through the object and illuminate then with increased vibrancy, just like slides on a light table.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that shooting against the sun comes with one big inherent challenge: the potential for greatly increased contrast. Keeping the direct sun out of your frame will help reduce potential problems, shooting closer and using long lenses can help as well.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest problem solver is to shoot in wintertime. The high reflectivity of snow in your scene will go a long way towards eliminating any contrast issues. Even with very bold light, you\u2019ll still be able to discern color and detail in your shadows.<\/p>\n

Finally, I love shooting portraits against the sun. The dramatic warm light at the end of the day creates a wonderful backdrop for a great expression or personality or when capturing particular memorable moments in life. It works with any type of lens but I usually prefer longer lenses for this kind of scene. <\/p>\n

Place the low sun almost directly behind your subject and expose for their face and you\u2019ll give them a rich halo of golden light and a warm sunlight background. You may end up with some overexposed highlights in your background, but this is often overshadowed by the quality of the light in the rest of your image.<\/p>\n

When using this technique, I would recommend eliminating the direct sun from your frame. Hiding it behind your subject can produced a very pleasing, warm lighting effect. It still produces very strong, bold look, but it won\u2019t overpower and kill the scene. That\u2019s what I did in the second portrait of my dad below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

If you scroll back up to the lead off picture in this post, you can see this effect with the hoar frost crystals that are being lit up by the sunlight. They actually become little tiny points of light themselves, taking on a visible shape that mirrors the aperture of your lens. (See below.)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As you can see, backlighting can give you some gorgeous looks. Get in the habit of looking straight towards the sun, especially when it\u2019s low in the sky, and you\u2019ll open up new creative possibilities with your photography. <\/p>\n

With the endless qualities of light that each day brings between the sun and clouds, the opportunities for taking great photos are also endless. Experiment with different lighting conditions and subject matter and you’ll discover some amazing possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danbaileyphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tva_lesson\/22982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danbaileyphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tva_lesson"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danbaileyphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tva_lesson"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danbaileyphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}