Lighting is a creative work that not only reflects the photographer's personality and style, but also relates to the success or failure of a work.

Light characteristics

In photography, the study of light characteristics generally starts from six aspects: luminosity, light quality, light position, light type, light ratio, and light color.

1. Photometry

Luminance is the most fundamental factor of light, which is the sum of the luminous intensity of a light source and the brightness of light on the surface of an object. Luminance is directly related to exposure, with high luminosity requiring low exposure; Low luminosity requires high exposure. In addition, the magnitude of luminosity also indirectly affects the depth of field and the clarity or blurriness of moving objects. High light intensity can easily produce the effect of large depth of field and clear images; Low luminosity can easily produce motion image effects with small depth and blurring.

2. Light level

Light position refers to the direction of illumination of a light source and the position of the light source relative to the subject. In photography, the light position determines the position of the subject's brightness and also affects the texture and form of the subject. The light position can vary greatly, but when the position of the subject and camera is relatively fixed, the light position can be divided into six types: forward light, side light, reverse light, top light, foot light, and scattered light.

3. Light quality

Light quality refers to the hard and soft properties of light. The so-called hard refers to the clear and thick shadows generated by light, with distinct contours and high contrast; The so-called soft refers to the soft and unclear shadows generated by light, with gradual contours and low contrast. Hard light has a clear directionality, which can create a sharp contrast between light and dark in the subject, aiding in the expression of texture. Hard light often gives people a sense of perseverance and vitality; Soft light does not have obvious directionality, it is suitable for reflecting the shape and color of objects, but is not good at expressing the texture of objects. Soft light often gives people a soft and delicate feeling.

4. Light type

For the subject, there is often more than one type of illumination light received during shooting, and each type of light has different functions and effects. Light type refers to the effect of various lights on the subject during shooting. The light type is usually divided into five types: main light, auxiliary light, contour light, decorative light, and background light.

Main light: Main light is the main illumination light of the subject, which plays a dominant role in the expression of the shape, contour, and texture of the object. When shooting, once the main light is determined, the basic lighting and tone of the image can be determined. It should be noted that for a subject, there can only be one main light. If several light sources are used as the main light at the same time, the subject will either receive equal light and cannot distinguish what the main light is, making the picture appear dull; Either several main lights produce shadows on the subject at the same time, making the picture appear chaotic and disorganized.

Auxiliary light: The main function of auxiliary light is to increase the brightness of the shadow areas generated by the main light, so that the dark areas also present a certain texture and level, while reducing image contrast. In the application of auxiliary light, it should be clear that the intensity of the auxiliary light should be less than the intensity of the main light. Otherwise, it will cause a noisy effect and easily cause obvious auxiliary light projection on the subject, which is known as "pinch light" phenomenon.

Contour light: Contour light is a light used to outline the outline of the subject. Contour light endows the subject with a sense of three-dimensional and spatial perception. Backlight and side backlight are commonly used as contour light, and the intensity of contour light is often higher than that of the main light. A dark background helps to highlight the silhouette light.

Decorative light: Decorative light is mainly used to decorate local parts of the subject or display the hierarchy of the subject's details. Decorative light is mostly narrow, with typical decorative lights such as eye contact light, luminescence in portrait photography, and flares in product photography.

Background light: Background light is the light that illuminates the background, and its main function is to set off the subject, render the environment, and atmosphere. Both natural and artificial light can be used as background light. The use of background light is generally wide, soft, and uniform. In the application of background light, it is particularly important not to disrupt the overall tone coordination and main body shape of the picture.

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5. Light ratio

Light ratio refers to the difference in light intensity between the bright and dark parts of the subject. A higher light ratio results in a greater contrast between the bright and dark parts of the subject; On the contrary, the contrast between the bright and dark parts is small.

Usually, the strength of the main light and auxiliary light, as well as the distance from the subject, determine the magnitude of the light ratio. So, there are two ways to adjust the light ratio during shooting: ① Adjust the intensity of the main light and auxiliary light. Strengthening the main light intensity or weakening the auxiliary light intensity will increase the light ratio; On the contrary, the light ratio decreases Adjust the distance between the main and auxiliary lights and the subject. Reducing the distance between the main light and the subject or increasing the distance between the auxiliary light and the subject will increase the light ratio; On the contrary, the light ratio decreases.

6. Light color

Light color refers to the "color" of light, often also known as color temperature. For black and white photography, light and color are not very important. But in color photography, light and color are very important. When shooting, it is necessary to choose an illumination light source with a color temperature that is consistent with the balanced color temperature of the film, otherwise, the captured image may appear color biased.