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CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / All About Light and Exposure

A good way to determine the light’s direction is
to look at the shadows as they always show the
direction the light is coming from. It is the shad-
ows in an image that can help to give it character
and interest. For example, landscape photogra-
phers usually like to work in the early hours of
the morning or the late hours of the evening
because not only is the light a great color, but the
angle of the sun and the direction of the light
cause long shadows to stretch across the land-
scape away from the sun.

Stop and look around for a moment. What light
sources are present right now while you are read-
ing this? Is it the soft glow from the overhead
light in your living room or is it the hard, bright
rays of the sun? Part of being a good photographer
is being able to see the light that is present and
understand how it interacts with your subject.
Some people can do this without thinking about

it. Others need to practice. I fall into the second

category and spend a lot of time practicing look-

ing at the light and working out how it will affect

my photography.

Look at the shadows created by the light; the

harder the edge of the shadow, the harder the

light. One of the situations I constantly deal with

is the shadow created on the face of performers

when they are illuminated by a spotlight. Take

the shadow in Figure 2-2, for example, where the

microphone is between the performer and the

light source, creating a hard shadow right on his

suited for portraits unless you want to portray the
subject as hard and angular. This type of lighting
is used to great effect in horror movie posters
when the light shines up from under the chin
causing the face to fall in hard shadows.

Direction

When it comes to the direction of the light, you
generally expect it to come from above. The sun
is above us with the light coming down, and so is
the moon. Most rooms are lit by overhead lights,
and even lamps are often placed to shine down.
At night, when shooting cityscapes, the light can
actually come from below and shine up, creating
images that are unique.

Looking at the shadows can help

determine the direction and intensity

of the light. The shadows always stretch away from the

light, and hard light makes for hard-edged shadows.

tip

ABOUT THIS PHOTO Bob Weir performing in concert. Notice

the harsh shadow on his face caused by the microphone in the path of

the spotlight. Taken at 1/320 second, f/2.8, and ISO 1600.

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