Quality of Light
The six features of lightning to bear in mind are its quality, direction, contrast, unevenness, colour and intensity. This article will focus on the quality of light.
The best way to describe the quality of a light source is in terms of the type of shadow it makes objects cast. The shadows can be hard and clear-cut, soft and graduated or somewhere in between.
This quality depends on the size of the source relative to its distance from the subject.
Hardest light comes from direct use of the most compact, point-like source, such as a spotlight or projector bulb, a small flashgun, a torch, a lighted match or direct light from the sun or moon. All these light sources vary enormously in intensity and colour, but when used direct they all make sharp edged shadows form.
The softest light comes from a large, enveloping source. This might be totally overcast sky or a large frosted window. It could be a lamp or flashgun with a large matt white reflector, or a cluster of fluorescent tubes. You can make any hard light source give soft lightning by placing a large sheet of diffusing material, such as tracing paper, between it and the subject. The larger and closer your diffuser is to the subject, the softer the lightning. Similarly you can direct a hard source on to a large matte reflector such as a white lined umbrella, card or the ceiling or a nearby wall, and use only the light bounced from this for your subject illumination. The opposite conversion is also possible. You can make a large soft light source give hard illumination by blocking it off with black card leaving only a small hole. Indoors, if you almost close window blinds you can produce fairly hard light even when the sky outside is overcast.
The way size and closeness of your light source alters lightning quality also changes the character of reflections from gloss surfaced subjects. A hard light source gives a small, brilliant highlight. Typical of this is the little point of light in the eyes of a portrait. Remember that these highlights in glossy surfaces are essentially mirror reflections of the light itself and so take on the shape of the lamp. The highlights from a soft light is a reflection of the large, diffuse source giving a paler, spread highlight, which may sometimes dilute the underlying colour of an entire glossy surface, making it look less rich.
The best way to describe the quality of a light source is in terms of the type of shadow it makes objects cast. The shadows can be hard and clear-cut, soft and graduated or somewhere in between.
This quality depends on the size of the source relative to its distance from the subject.
Hardest light comes from direct use of the most compact, point-like source, such as a spotlight or projector bulb, a small flashgun, a torch, a lighted match or direct light from the sun or moon. All these light sources vary enormously in intensity and colour, but when used direct they all make sharp edged shadows form.
The softest light comes from a large, enveloping source. This might be totally overcast sky or a large frosted window. It could be a lamp or flashgun with a large matt white reflector, or a cluster of fluorescent tubes. You can make any hard light source give soft lightning by placing a large sheet of diffusing material, such as tracing paper, between it and the subject. The larger and closer your diffuser is to the subject, the softer the lightning. Similarly you can direct a hard source on to a large matte reflector such as a white lined umbrella, card or the ceiling or a nearby wall, and use only the light bounced from this for your subject illumination. The opposite conversion is also possible. You can make a large soft light source give hard illumination by blocking it off with black card leaving only a small hole. Indoors, if you almost close window blinds you can produce fairly hard light even when the sky outside is overcast.
The way size and closeness of your light source alters lightning quality also changes the character of reflections from gloss surfaced subjects. A hard light source gives a small, brilliant highlight. Typical of this is the little point of light in the eyes of a portrait. Remember that these highlights in glossy surfaces are essentially mirror reflections of the light itself and so take on the shape of the lamp. The highlights from a soft light is a reflection of the large, diffuse source giving a paler, spread highlight, which may sometimes dilute the underlying colour of an entire glossy surface, making it look less rich.
Source...