Photography Basics

Lesson 4: Lighting

Mood Lighting

The mood of a photograph can be enhanced by lighting and the position of light. Side lighting has been used for masculine portraits to show off rugged facial features. Front lighting has been used to flatter celebrities because it smoothes the shadows of skin texture, while sculpting facial contours.

Find the light that fits your subject and your photographs will come to life with your vision.

Front Lighting

A light is placed near the lens and directly in front of the subject. This can be a flash unit attached to the camera or a prop light slightly to the left or right of the camera. This lighting seems to flatten out the volume of the subject and minimizes textures.

Side Lighting

A light is placed at a 90-degree angle to the subject. This can look like the face is split in two. One side is completely in shadow, and the other side is lit up. This type of lighting emphasizes facial features and can reveal textures of the skin.

High Side Lighting

A main light stands at a 45-degree angle to one side and 45-degree angle above the subject defines the “high” and “side” lighting. This is a classic lighting shot for portraits. It can be done outdoors with the sun on top and a side light. This is the most natural of light set-ups and is very flattering, as it allows the face to be sculpted into a 3-D form.

Top Lighting

A light shines down directly on top of the subject. With people it creates deep shadows in the eye sockets and under the nose and chin, such as when trying to photograph someone outside at noon.

For product lighting, the shadows are still present, but it can be quite flattering if detail at the top of the piece needs to be highlighted.

Under Lighting

Lit from below, this produces odd-looking shadows because natural light rarely comes from below a subject. Okay, maybe firelight. In fact, this lighting is now best used for a ghoulish look during ghost stories. Think of the “Blair Witch Project” with the flashlight under her nose when she was getting a bit frantic.

Back Lighting

This is a light coming from the back of a subject. The front of the subject can be left in complete darkness unless a fill-flash is used. This might be a flash shot at the front of the subject to light it up. Snow, sunny skies, or bright windows are all back lighting culprits. With fill-flash to compensate, you can make shadows less dark by adding light to them.

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