Understanding How Light Direction Impacts Your Photos

Have you ever wondered why a photo you have taken looks dull or washed out, despite the bright lighting conditions? Believe it or not, the direction of light can have a huge effect on your images. Today we delve into the world of light direction, exploring how it impacts your photos and discovering how you can use this knowledge to capture stunning images every time.

Whether relying on natural lighting, AKA the sun, or using artificial lighting in a creative setup, it can shine on your model from all different angles, with even the slightest shift having a large impact on your finished product. While there are various angles and adjustments, the three common types of lighting are front lighting, backlighting and side lighting. Let’s discuss exactly what these mean and the different looks they can achieve.

As the name suggests, front lighting comes from directly in front of your subject. A few key points about front lighting; it delivers the most even illumination but can also flatten your subject, making it less dynamic.

Once again, the name makes this lighting style quite obvious - the main light source is behind the subject. As your camera’s light meter will have to expose for the strong lighting coming from behind your subject to avoid excessively blown-out highlights, your foreground subjects will be dark and lacking in detail. While this might not be convenient if you are capturing a detailed portrait, for example, it is perfect for silhouette photography.

Lighting that hits your subject from the side at roughly a 90-degree angle is known as side lighting and it is considered to be flattering to many subjects. Why does side lighting look better? As side lighting illuminates the outline of your subjects, it separates them from their background, making them more impactful and dynamic. There are, however, some possible negative impacts to side lighting. As one side of your subject is much more lit than the other, your image can have deeper shadows than you would generally like.

When working in the controlled environments of a photography studio you can position your off-camera studio lights so that the direction of lighting is in your favor. As we mentioned above, side lighting is extremely flattering, despite a few drawbacks. In the studio, you can try multiple studio lights; one main light source to one side of your subject, and another weaker light to the other side to soften the shadows.

The time of the day is the most important decision you will make when planning an outdoor shoot. If you head out with your camera in the middle of the day, this is an instance where you are setting yourself up for disappointment, even if you feel like there is plenty of light around for some great Photography. The reason is, that the sun being directly overhead causes harsh shadows that are extremely hard to correct in post-production. 

The answer is to plan your photo shoot for the early morning or late afternoon hours when the sun is lower in the sky. Not only does this generally result in the sun illuminating your subject from a more flattering angle, but it also allows you to take advantage of the softer and warmer quality of lighting, which is why this time of the day is often called the golden hour.

Note: When lighting portraits on location, you can use the best of both worlds and combine natural lighting with artificial, which is known as using fill light. You can also use light reflectors to direct the available light to where it is needed within your frame, to reduce any unwanted harsh shadows.

Understanding light direction is just one piece of the photography puzzle. Want to start putting together the other pieces? Be sure to follow Ted's photography blog for more tips, tricks, and gear advice. We’ll help you capture stunning images that truly stand out.