Quality of Light-Hard Light

If you have ever had a session with us, you might hear me say, "Let me find the light." Or, as I wander around in circles looking up and around, many of our clients ask, "What are you doing?" Really, I am not just wandering around aimlessly and I do have my head on right. I am just looking for the light and trying to figure out what direction it is coming from, the intensity of it, and where the best place would be for you.

We want to have "good light". Light that is pleasing to you, but still produces some dimension in the image. A great image will have shadows and highlights and you need light to produce both.

I am looking for the quantity of light-that is- how much light is at the scene, and I am looking for the quality. Is it hard or soft? Harsh or gentle?

A good definition of Quality of Light is this- quality of light is defined by the size of the light source relative to the subject.

So, the size of the light source may produce soft or hard light depending on how close or far away it is from the subject. Most small light sources will always produce hard light, but large light sources can produce both.

What that means is that if you have a small light source (like a flashlight or small on camera flash) it will produce hard lighting. The lighting will have well defined edges and provide a very clear definition between the shadows and highlights.

If you have a large light source the light will be soft, (less defined edges, and less definition between the shadows and highlights) however, it is also affected by the distance of the light source to the subject. If the large light source (such as a large 5 foot softbox) is close to the subject, it is proportionally large compared to their face and will produce a very pleasing, soft light.

But if you move that softbox 20 feet awsy from the subject,  it changes the relative size of the light. For example,  the sun itself is a HUGE light source approximately 864,000 miles in diameter. But, when we look at it from earth, it appears very small in the sky because of our relative distance from the sun.  So, the sun is actually a small light source that produces hard light.

Hard light can be produced by the following sources:

1. The sun

2. A flashlight

3. A bare bulb

4. A Candle

5. Your on camera flash

As mentioned above, hard light has certain characteristics such as strong, well defined shadows and a high degree of contrast. You will notice deep shadows and a well defined line between the shadows and highlights.

If you want an edgy image that is full of contrast, then use either a large light source far away from your subject, or a small light source close up. If the small light source is too far away, it will not produce the quantity of light that you need to produce the defined shadow edges or the light quantity for a proper exposure.

Visit our blog in the next few weeks to learn more about quality of light!