The bigger the light source, the softer and broader the light.
As you venture deeper into the
wonderful world of photography you will start to experiment with off camera
lighting. When one talks about lighting there are two types of lighting:
Hard
lighting is where there is minimal transition between the light and dark
areas also know as high contrast.
Soft
lighting is where there is a gradual transition between the light and dark
areas degree of contrast between the light and dark areas of the subject.
The image below provides an
example of hard and soft lighting.
The type of light source used to light your subject would
determine the quality of light (hard or soft). Just keep this in mind when
choosing your light source, the bigger the light source the softer the light
e.g. the sun and the smaller light source e.g. your camera pop up flash the
harsher the light on your subject.
It is not end of the world when you shoot indoor. There a
various ways to diffuse your flash to make it softer. The most used ones would
be to shoot through an umbrella as shown below.
Notice how soft and broad the light is? But be careful how
you mount it else you would not achieve the desired outcome. Have a look at the
image below:
The light distribution is not evenly spread and is more
centered. This happens when the umbrella is place too close to the light source
e.g. you flash. Though not wrong as you may be getting a narrower light source
falling on your subject as oppose to a broad one.
So remember when the flash is at Position 1 you will get a broad
soft light (because the light source appears to be bigger) and move to Position 2 if you want a more narrow yet diffused light to
fall on your subject (because the light source appears to be smaller).
So, remember this: The Bigger the light source, the Softer (and Broader) the light will be.
This Pro Tip was written by Pro Trainer Braendan Yong who really loves inducing artificial lights in his photo-shoots (and he's good at it).
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