The name itself says, “photography” means “to write with light?”And this means that photographic lighting must be treated very carefully and carefully when producing an image. But speaking like that, it seems that the amount of light is what makes the difference However, it doesn’t work that way. The eMania Blog Passionate about Photography, Video and Film will explain what part of photo lighting influences a good image, such as the positioning of light sources, the main types of photographic lighting, etc.
In photography everything that emits light can be considered a source of photographic lighting, however, some are considered the main ones, to begin classifying them it should be remembered that there are three types of light sources: artificial, natural and environmental. Ideally, all three are used in a production, however, it is possible to work them individually.
- Natural photographic lighting sources are the lights found in the environment and are part of it The main source of natural photographic lighting is the sun.
- Which is considered the source that most alters its characteristics They are other sources of secondary natural photographic lighting difficult to find.
- Especially with the high incidence of artificial lighting.
- Which can disturb the natural.
- Moonlight.
- Stars.
- Northern Lights and lightning are considered other natural ones.
These are found in virtually every environment, can they be lamps, poles, headlights, reflectors?Artificial photographic lighting sources have different temperatures, so for photographers, combining several requires precautions. An image taken on the street, for example, where the environment is bombarded by different artificial lights, can be more difficult to achieve.
The sources of photographic ambient lighting are composed of a mixture of the other two types and generally the most difficult to control, ambient photographic lighting is all that is part of the place to be represented, either through natural or artificial sources. Outside the photographic studio, where all photographic lighting is controlled by producers, ambient light will always be present, which the photographer must do about it and enjoy it in the way he finds best for the proposal, for this it is important that it includes two characteristics of light sources.
The concept of? Hardness: Light is easy to understand and can help the photographer get the ideal photographic lighting for the desired result. Hard light is the light that directly affects the photographed object, causing a sharp shadow. An example is the projection of the sun on a clear day, soft light, on the other hand, generates shadows without sharp contours, when it is not possible to know when they start or end, on cloudy days sunlight behaves in this way, it is important to note that none of the lights is worse than The use of each person or not will depend on the purpose of the image and the effect that the photographer wishes to exhibit , so know when to use each of them and how to simulate them:
When the photographer’s intention is to show a marked contrast between light and darkness, this type of photographic lighting is ideal, this type of light is widely used in images that aim to convey a certain suspense, or mystery, in this type of photography the light is almost always hard and with a lot of contrast between light and shadow. In sensual tests, this type of photographic lighting is also widely used to improve the contours of the body of the models. Hard light is also known for highlighting imperfections, so it is not recommended for portraits, unless the image occurs very well afterwards, so as not to harm the model. In amateur photography, hard light is well represented by the use of the camera flash. Therefore, to get the result of a more beautiful, soft skin. Photographic lighting is recommended.
Soft light is used when the goal is to achieve delicate results, with images representing calm and fragility. The soft skin effect, commonly found in magazines, is achieved with diffusers, making photographic lighting just as soft. portraits of people and happy environments.
The difference between hard light and dim light lies in the size of the light source compared to the photographed element, the greater the light source, the smoother the effect and the smaller the photographic lighting, the more difficult; however, the size of the light source is relative, as it depends on the reference point adopted. The sun, for example, is very large, but it is far away. Therefore, from the photographer’s point of view, it is small and, as mentioned above, small light sources. Light causes rough photographic illumination, with marked shadows; on cloudy days, clouds act as diffusers that diffuse sunlight by making it soft, so this light becomes a single and great source of photographic lighting and that is why on cloudy days there are few shadows. To get intense light, simply place the photographic light source near the element to be rendered to create the shadow effect. To get smooth photographic lighting, you need some tricks, such as using diffusers.
If to get a hard light, the photographic light source should be close to the object to be photographed, it is generally thought that to get a soft light, just do the opposite, however, the action does not provide the ideal lighting, because if you move the photographic lighting too far, it can become so weak that it does not even make a difference in the final result.
This is why the use of diffusers is essential to achieve this type of effect. To soften the light, the photographer can act in two ways: filter or curve it. To do this, either use the diffuser, which acts as a cloud. towards the sun, or does the light bounce with a large clear surface. ?Do you know the effects of white balance on your image and 3-point lighting ?. To filter photographic lighting, place the diffuser between the light source and the item to be photographed. To hit, rotate the photographic light source over the model and use the batter to reflect it.