Where the light is coming from in a photograph can have drastically different effects in a photo, and fortunately it’s one you can plan around and manipulate to your advantage. First thing you need to know is that there are three places where light usually comes from: frontlight, sidelight, and backlight.
Frontlighting is where the subject is lit from light coming from directly behind the photographer.
Pros: This creates an even illumination of the subject and is usually the easiest to shoot in. It’s exactly the kind of light you are using when you use a flash. If you aren’t using a flash, (I absolutely hate to unless it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary, but that’s just me) the sun is usually going to be your source of lighting, and often times you’ll be able to manipulate you subject so that you have frontlighting. It’s really easy, just have you subject face the sun if it’s a person.
Cons: For human subjects this is obviously going to create the dreaded squint. Another more challenging aspect of frontlighting subjects is when you are shooting an immobile subject like a landscape or something you need to set up from a specific angle. In these cases your going to have to figure out which time of day gives you the right kind of light. For this photo, I got up at 6am in order to be there when the sun was facing the beach and frontlighting the surfers.
Sidelighting is exactly what it sounds like, light that comes from the side!
Pros: This going to create really three-dimensional pictures with lots of highlights and shadows. This is definitely my most used lighting technique; I love the way that it emphasizes the personality of the photo.
Cons: This is the most challenging kind of photo to shoot. It’s very easy to over or underexpose your photo (make parts of your photo way too dark and some way too white). Also, when shooting portraits of people looking at you, you really need to be careful of using a soft sidelight. This is an example of a hard sidelight and it really creates harsh lines on the subjects face. No bueno.
Backlighting is a wonderful way (and as far as I know the only way) to create silhouettes, as the light is coming from behind the subject, completely eliminating the colors of the subject itself.
Pros: These can create really compelling images. They’re relatively easy to create. I love them.
Cons: The light is now in your eyes, and it can create glare in the pictures. In this photo, I put the sun right at the edge of the photo.
Really, the best time of lighting for any photo is in the early morning or in the late evening. These times of day give warmth to your photos and can set you up for some really neat shots. The best part about the different lighting techniques, is you only need to be aware of what kind of light you’re shooting in in order to have control over it. No fancy equipment necessary!