How Do Different Types of Light Affect Pictures?

Side Lighting

• Side lighting is often used in situations where a high color contrast is present. Side lighting has the tendency to produce long dramatic shadows which can be minimized by using reflector panes. In black and white photography, side lighting can add different shades of gray which will help add depth to the image. When used in color photography, side lighting can help add texture to otherwise flat images. Regardless of the medium, side lighting offers the photographer some very artistic effects.

Back Lighting

• Back lighting is another method of illumination often used for artistic reasons. When the light source is placed behind your subject the subject is usually cast as a silhouette. Back lighting is commonly used in situations where the background breaks up the light source and displays beams of light. For example, if you took a photograph of the sun through a thinly wooded forest the sun would be broken into rays as it was cast through the trees.

Soft Lighting

• Soft lighting is one of the most commonly used types of lighting in studio and portrait photography. With soft lighting the light source is usually used in conjunction with a light diffuser. The resulting light is more evenly spread out among the portrait instead of the light focusing on one portion of the photograph. Soft lighting can help to smooth out skin tones and give the photograph a dreamy effect.

Hard Lighting

• Hard lighting is less commonly used because it can be difficult to get the right exposure. When it is used the effects it usually casts are bright to blown out highlights and large shadows. This typically results in high contrast and overall bright photographs. When taking a close-up portrait in hard lighting, the area under the eyes are usually shadowed and can create an undesirable effect. Hard lighting is best when used on wide landscape photographs where shadows are minimal.

Rim Lighting

• Rim lighting is a style of lighting in which the light is cast on the scene at an indirect angle rather than from directly behind, in front or from the side. In some ways it is an extension of back lighting. Rim lighting accentuates the shape of objects in the scene much like the silhouettes cast by back lighting. The light produced is usually hard in one portion of the scene and progressively softens farther away from the light source. Rim lighting is typically used in situations where the light needs to create an impact, such as wildlife photography.