accentuate shape and texture. Soft light creates lighter, more gentle shadows
(the transitions from highlight areas to shadow areas are more gradual). This
lower-contrastlightingtendstosmoothshapesandtexture.Becausesoftlight
tends to be flattering, it is popular in all types of people photography. How-
ever, great images can also be made with hard light sources—or even a com-
bination of both soft and hard.
Size of the Light Source.The controllingfactor inwhether a lightsource
will produce hard light or soft light is its sizerelativetothesubject. The larger
the light is in relation to the subject, the softer (less contrasty) the light will
appear; the smaller the light source is in relation to the subject, the harder
(more contrasty) the light will appear.
What this means is that, placed at equal distances from the subject, a large
lightsource(likeasoftbox)willproducesofterlight,whileasmalllightsource
(like a spotlight) will produce harder light. However, even the same source
can be made harder or softer depending on how far it is placed from the sub-
ject. If it is placed close, it will be relatively large in relation to them and pro-
duce softer light. If the same source is placed far from the subject, though, it
will be relatively small in relation to the subject and produce harder light.
Natural Light.To see how this works, let’s look at a source we are all fa-
miliar with: the sun. The sun is a huge light source but, because it is so far
fromus, direct sunlightatnooncreates very harsh contrast.Inmost cases,di-
rect overhead sunlight should be avoided when photographing people; it2-3(left).Soft light creates very gentle
transitions between the shadows and
highlights, for a smooth look with less
contrast.
2-4(right).Hard light creates sharper
transitions between the shadows and
highlights, for a more dramatic look
with greater contrast.