Exercise in light

I was working this weekend on a basic light exercise. You pick a subject, and explore photographing it in various types of light. What are some types of most often encountered light? See the “Recommended reading” below for some lists and examples of each. Some of the ligh types, like night, are difficult to reproduce in the studio (but not impossible!). To make my life a bit less complicated (and my butt not frozen), I focused on the basic directional lights- front, back, and side- those were doable with flashes.

Front light really requires a well chosen subject, in most cases it just does not come out well. I am not even going to show the image, there is nothing spectacular about it. Back light is recently my favorite, for either shooting through translucent subjects (glass, petals) or to create silhouettes. Side light is probably the one most often found, and used in thoughtful manner, it can help creating beautiful spot of light, accenting a particular element or make subject stand out more.

Here is what I got after spending couple of hours on this exercise. If you do something similar, don’t forget to share the link in the comment section!

Recommended reading:

• Anne McKinnel free e-book, “8 types of natural light” available in Amazon store. While at it, check out more of Anne’s photography related e-books!
• Also a list with descriptions, “6 types of light every photographer should be prepared for” from Photography Blogger
• Examples of using different types of light can change the image in “The power of light is the power in your photographs” by Piper Mackay

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