Light in photography: backlighting, grazing, and soft light

Are you aware that there is no photo without light? Diablo 2 runes stores use photos to market their products.

Special features of the backlight

“Never take pictures against the light” is one of the rules that you often hear as a photography beginner.

And for memory portraits of people, this rule certainly makes sense, because those portrayed quickly become silhouettes in the backlight. With appropriate motifs, however, backlighting can conjure up a very attractive atmosphere in the picture. Because of the high contrasts, however, exposure is always a challenge. On the one hand, the light areas should still contain a drawing, on the other hand, the dark areas must not be completely black unless you specifically want some kind of silhouette.

The camera’s automatic system is quickly overwhelmed in unusual light situations. In order to be absolutely sure that the spectacle seen can later be adequately reproduced, you should always make a RAW exposure series.

Special features of grazing light

Grazing light is direct light that mostly hits a motif at a flat angle and only partially, and only grazes the object in the truest sense of the word.

A few details are still just hit – the image region a little in front of or behind; above or below there is no direct incidence of light.

Special features of soft light

Outside there is soft or diffuse light when the sky is cloudy and thus forms a huge radiating surface with uniform light distribution for the light source. This type of light does not cast sharp shadows, the contrasts are low, and a landscape photo can then appear boring. Fog and haze also produce soft images with a suitable position of the sun, as with a diffusion wall. Inside, soft light is obtained, for example, by deflecting the light source onto a light-diffusing, neutral wall or onto a screen, etc. These also enlarge the light-emitting surface.

Soft light becomes more elegant and easier to control if you model it with surface lights. For example, a tent-like construction made of an opaque silver reflector that ends with a light-scattering diffusion film is suitable. Surface lights are available in different sizes. The size of the lamp is usually adapted to the size of the motif.

The closer the surface light is to the object, the softer the light character appears. The shadows are lightened overall, the edges of the shadows dissolve. Soft light is straightforward. It is often used for documenting material shots and pack shots. It is ideal for food and beauty photos and flatters nudes and portraits.

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