From the course: Learning Lighting: Natural Light
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Understanding the direction of light
From the course: Learning Lighting: Natural Light
Understanding the direction of light
The angle of light falling upon your subject is an important concern in photography. Whether natural or artificially created in a studio, the direction of light dictates the outcome of your image. The 4 basic angles of light are side light, front light, back light and top light. Side light makes the shadows in your scene more visible, and creates dimension and form in your photograph. The nature of a photograph is two dimensional, but by using side light you can accentuate facial features, emphasize texture and create a three dimensional quality to your photograph. When shooting outdoors in natural light, look to see where the light is coming from so you can position your subject with one side towards the brighter light in your scene. Front light illuminates the entire face and occurs when your subject is facing the light. This is also known as beauty lighting because it de-emphasizes any lines bumps or wrinkles on someone's face. You can read where the light is coming from by looking…
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