A-Photo Mag

Well, you could do it out of a studio as well! If you remember our last article on what makes shadow less lighting, this one would be much easier to understand, so we really suggest you read that before you get into this one.

As was discussed in the article titled ‘What Makes Shadow Less Lighting’, it is pretty simple to understand the difference between hard and soft, diffused light. Let us now learn how one can create diffused light. Usually, in most photographic applications, diffused light creates much more pleasing an atmosphere, and adds a nice touch to the image.

You must have seen studios with white umbrellas over the flash lights. That’s a fine way of creating diffused light. Alternatively, soft boxes of various sizes that fit on to your studio light create almost perfect diffused light. When you want the minimum shadows and the maximum soft effect of the light on your subject, you need to minimize the soft box-subject distance. Try this as a learning experience – use a small model subject under a soft box if it is available to you. Try photographing the subject with various light-subject distances to see the difference this has on your image. Of course you will need to make appropriate changes to exposure, since the intensity of light is greater at lower distances.

Many readers probably do not have their own studio apparatus. Do not be disheartened, you can create diffused lighting with your portable flash unit as well. If you have one with a swiveling head, turn it towards a wall, or bounce it off the ceiling to create a wonderful soft and diffused light with the flash unit. This is how wedding photographers are often able to provide awe-inspiring lighting with only a simple on-camera portable flash gun. If your flash head does not swivel around to point in various directions and/or angles, you could still do something about it. Use a bit of semi transparent paper over the flash head to diffuse the light. Remember to make adequate changes to exposure to compensate for the light loss. Of course, if you have an auto flash, you need have no worries about exposure, as long as you affix the paper over the flash’s ‘eye’ or sensor as well! It is quite simple to create diffused lighting isn’t it? All you need is a bit of creativity.

Here’s what NOT to do to create shadow less lighting with your flash gun…don’t use the flash on camera – straight on. If you have an adequate flash chord extension, you could even place your flash away from the camera, at an angle. That would give true modeling to the subject. It may not be soft lighting, but at least you will avoid the ugly shadow at the back, and give some modeling to your subject at the same time.

Experience with various kinds of paper and semi-transparent material in front of the flash head to get interesting lighting effects…

When photographing in the outdoors, one needs to work with ambient light as the main light source (generally). In such a scenarios you can obviously not have much of a control over the lighting conditions. You need to work with the existing light, which is affected by the position of the sun, the clouds and the relational positioning of the subject. Obviously we cannot have a control over the position of the sun or the clouds. That leaves us with positioning the subject as our most versatile tool.

The classic rule of outdoor photography tells us to keep the subject in front of the sun, meaning keep your back to the sun and position the subject in front of you. The subject would be well-illuminated in this case, and moreover you would eliminate the risk of lens flare (which occurs when the light source is in front of the lens behind the subject). This is a fail safe method to get good exposures. However, make sure that if you have a large area of the sky behind the subject, you lock focus on the subject by half-pressing the shutter before you fire. Also, the exposure can go haywire if the camera was focused on the sky instead of the subject. In such case, you would get a well-exposed sky and an under-exposed subject. To take things further, that is exactly what you should do if you want to photograph a silhouette!

If you wish to experiment with outdoor lighting further - well, wel need to break the rule we just taught you! Lets say we are shooting a portrait. Have you ever seen outdoor portraits where the sun creates a kind of halo effect in the hair of the subject - the classic ’sunshine in your hair’ look? If you want to shoot such a portrait, wait for the time when the sun is low on the horizon. Twilight is too late, around 4pm should do fine in most countries. The sunlight should have started to turn yellow by then, but still bright enough for a good exposure - and just NOT bright enough to create a lens flare. So - we have a light source-subject-camera arrangement here. Look through the viewfinder and position the camera-subject combo in such a way as to catch that light in the hair. This works very well for brown and blond hair. Also, zoom in as much as you can. Not only are longer focal lengths better for portraits in general, but they provide just the right effect for the sunshine in your hair effect.

If you wish to shoot outdoors at night, you have no option but to either use flash lighting, or long exposures. In case of the latter, you will need a tripod, or a support of some kind to place the camera upon. Using natural light in the outdoors, is however the best light source you can have. Just as long as you can either wait for the right time (for the right lighting), or position your subject to suit your photo idea.

A sunset in Goa, India