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Articles |
By jqh
Published: 25 May 2009
Updated: 25 May 2009
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Light is important to photography - it cannot exist without it. That said, a common error made by studio newbies (I have been guilty of it myself) involves focusing so much on light that they overlook shadows.
Below are two photos that I took of the talented Jessica. In the first photo I lit Jess with a large softbox from [slightly] camera right and used an umbrella on another light (left of camera) to help light the background. In the second photo I lit her with a bare bulb (except for some flagging to stop flare) that was located directly where she’s looking and elevated a little.
As you can see, the flat front-lighting produced an unflattering portrait and is utterly boring. Meanwhile, the side-lit photo brings out Jess’ cheekbones, gives her arms definition, and creates natural contrast that exists because of the shadow present in the picture.
Long story short: if you front-light then that light will reflect back off your subject and onto your film/sensor… you won’t get a great deal of shadow. Have a look at your favourite photographs - there is definitely light there, but consider how much shadow there is and how that shadow was achieved.
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