Photography and light: light direction

Last time we talked about light size in photography with relation to the subject, and the mood it casts on our composition (Photography and light: light size). Today we talk about light direction and the angle it falls on our subject.

The angle in which a light source strikes the subject is indicated in the shadows it casts, which fall away from the light in the same direction. Take the position of the sun, for example. Around sunrise and sunset, the sun is low in the sky. It hits various figures and surfaces from a low angle. As a result, those figures cast long soft shadows that fall away from the light direction in a horizontal manner.

As the sun moves gradually up to a higher angle, shadows become more and more shortened and hard-edged. At midday, the sun is vertical striking objects from the top. Shadows become hard, falling right below the subject. In the same sense, studio lights can be manipulated in position and/or hardness to suggest these different times of day or to produce the same results.

When the light source is behind us to the top and emitting light that is in-line with our eye level, illuminating the subject from the front there will be no shadows from our view point as they will fall right behind the subject. Little texture of the subject will be revealed this way.

As light moves off-center to the top or bottom, shadows start casting in the opposite direction. Small light sources cast hard shadows, revealing surface texture. Larger sources cast softer shadows suggesting form and volume.

Side light which is not in-line with the camera’s level either to the left or to the right, creates catch-lights in the subject’s eyes if they are on the same light level to the left or to the right. This could be sunlight a little after sunrise or a little before sunset. If this light was small in size with relation to the subject it hits, it casts hard long shadows creating drama. If the light was medium or large in size, shadows become softer, subject appears more flat, and a calm stable mood of the scene is more felt.