Hard, Flat and Feathered Lighting.

In our first studio lesson we learnt about three simple ways of lighting a studio set, here are the three explained:

Hard lighting can be created when you use concentrated light source on one side of the subject, this allows us to create dark, harsh shadows on the other side with little graduation from dark to light. It is very easy setup using only two lights to create the effect. One light should be positioned at an angle to ensure that shadows can be seen in the photograph whereas the other light, should be positioned facing the back of the subject. The back light is used to create a silhouette behind the figure, where as the front light is used to light the side of the figure and make the shadows. The two lights that are used are a snoot used at the back and a honeycomb.

Feathered lighting is a way of shooting photographs with a smooth gradation from dark to light within the shadows. It helps to give a softer tone to the subject in the photograph by using a soft box over the lights to diffuse it. To do this two soft boxes are used that are placed slightly tilted towards the subject, so that when the light hits it will distribute evenly over the face of the person. Therefore the lightest parts with gradually fade into the darkest with no direct contrast like hard lighting. This technique is often used in fashion photography as it is particularly flattering on the skin, hiding any blemishes or imperfections, as well as helping to shape the face.

Flat lighting is used to create an even tone across the whole of an image with little shadows and hence depth. It is commonly found in studio fashion photography in that the lighting can help make a contrast between the face and the background and also hide imperfections.