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Ambient light – Also referred to as available light. Ambient light occurs in the scene without adding any flash or light modifiers. It can be daylight, or it can be artificial light such as tungsten or fluorescent bulbs.
Front light or flat light-occurs when the light source is directly in front of your subject. Since the light is not at an angle, this can result in a limited amount of shadows. The light will be spread evenly across the photo, with no section more or less exposed than the rest.This can be good for portraits, especially if your subject has wrinkles or blemishes that they want to de-emphasize. However, if you are attempting to create a portrait that shows a lot of personality, front lighting will not provide the detail you need in order to bring the subject's character to life.
Backlight-when the light source is behind the subject, with the subject in between the light and your camera. This can be a great opportunity to play with You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. and long shadows in your photography. The potential downside to backlit photos is that the white balance will be off, resulting in a loss of detail in your subject. This works well for silhouettes, but if you still want to see some detail on your subject, this is the time to pull out your light diffuser to reflect some of the light from the background onto the front of the subject.
Main light or key light /Natural light– The main light source for a photograph. It could be the sun, a studio strobe, a flash, a reflector, or something else. It’s the source that produces the pattern of light on the subject with the most intensity.
Fill light – The light source that is secondary to the key light. Used to “fill” in the shadows. Can be produced with a flash, a reflector, or a studio strobe.
Lighting pattern – The way the light falls on the subject’s face (e.g., at a 45-degree angle).
Lighting ratio – A comparison between the intensity (brightness) of the main light and the fill light. In other words: the difference between the lit and shadow sides of the subject’s face.
Incident light meter – A handheld device that measures the amount of light falling on a subject. An incident meter is not fooled by the brightness range of the subject, whereas in-camera reflective meters can be fooled (resulting in overexposure and underexposure).
Speedlight – A small, portable flash that can attach to your camera’s hot shoe or stand on its own when activated remotely.
Reflector – A device used to reflect light (generally back toward the subject). It can be a specialized, factory-made reflector (I recommend getting a 5-in-1), or a piece of white cardboard.
Light meter – A device that measures the amount of light in a scene. Pretty much all modern cameras offer a built-in light meter, though it uses reflective readings (see the entry on incident light meters, above).
Remote flash trigger – A device used to fire speedlights off-camera.
Subtractive lighting – Taking away light to create a darker look. It often involves holding a reflector or an opaque panel over the subject’s head to block light from above and open up deep eye shadows caused by overhead lighting. It can also involve holding a black reflector opposite your main light to create a deeper shadow (i.e., essentially reflecting black onto the subject instead of light.)
Hard light – Harsh or non-diffused light such as that produced by bright sunlight, a small speedlight, or an on-camera flash. Creates harsh shadows with well-defined edges, contrast, and texture (if used at an angle to the subject). Emphasizes texture, lines, and wrinkles. Often used to create a more dramatic type of portrait.
Soft light – Diffused light, such as that from an overcast sky, north-facing window with no direct light, or a large studio softbox. This type of light produces soft shadows with soft edges, lower contrast, and less texture. Soft light is generally preferred by most wedding and portrait photographers because it flatters the subject.
Rim light-can be created using a form of backlighting, where the light is at an angle from behind or above. The light will hit your subject in a way that creates a glowing outline or highlight around the subject, depending on the direction that your light is coming from. This technique is useful for distinguishing the subject from the background by providing definition.
Edge transfer – How quickly shadow edges go from dark to light. With harsh light, the edge transfer is very defined and sudden (almost a clear line). With soft lighting, the edge transfer is much more subtle – almost imperceptible – as it gradually changes from dark to light.
Flash sync – The synchronization of the firing of an electronic flash and the shutter speed. You need to know what shutter speed your camera syncs at; otherwise, if you use a too-fast shutter speed, you may get a partially illuminated image. For most cameras, the sync speed is around 1/200s.
source:expertphotography
Front light or flat light-occurs when the light source is directly in front of your subject. Since the light is not at an angle, this can result in a limited amount of shadows. The light will be spread evenly across the photo, with no section more or less exposed than the rest.This can be good for portraits, especially if your subject has wrinkles or blemishes that they want to de-emphasize. However, if you are attempting to create a portrait that shows a lot of personality, front lighting will not provide the detail you need in order to bring the subject's character to life.
Backlight-when the light source is behind the subject, with the subject in between the light and your camera. This can be a great opportunity to play with You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. and long shadows in your photography. The potential downside to backlit photos is that the white balance will be off, resulting in a loss of detail in your subject. This works well for silhouettes, but if you still want to see some detail on your subject, this is the time to pull out your light diffuser to reflect some of the light from the background onto the front of the subject.
Main light or key light /Natural light– The main light source for a photograph. It could be the sun, a studio strobe, a flash, a reflector, or something else. It’s the source that produces the pattern of light on the subject with the most intensity.
Fill light – The light source that is secondary to the key light. Used to “fill” in the shadows. Can be produced with a flash, a reflector, or a studio strobe.
Lighting pattern – The way the light falls on the subject’s face (e.g., at a 45-degree angle).
Lighting ratio – A comparison between the intensity (brightness) of the main light and the fill light. In other words: the difference between the lit and shadow sides of the subject’s face.
Incident light meter – A handheld device that measures the amount of light falling on a subject. An incident meter is not fooled by the brightness range of the subject, whereas in-camera reflective meters can be fooled (resulting in overexposure and underexposure).
Speedlight – A small, portable flash that can attach to your camera’s hot shoe or stand on its own when activated remotely.
Reflector – A device used to reflect light (generally back toward the subject). It can be a specialized, factory-made reflector (I recommend getting a 5-in-1), or a piece of white cardboard.
Light meter – A device that measures the amount of light in a scene. Pretty much all modern cameras offer a built-in light meter, though it uses reflective readings (see the entry on incident light meters, above).
Remote flash trigger – A device used to fire speedlights off-camera.
Subtractive lighting – Taking away light to create a darker look. It often involves holding a reflector or an opaque panel over the subject’s head to block light from above and open up deep eye shadows caused by overhead lighting. It can also involve holding a black reflector opposite your main light to create a deeper shadow (i.e., essentially reflecting black onto the subject instead of light.)
Hard light – Harsh or non-diffused light such as that produced by bright sunlight, a small speedlight, or an on-camera flash. Creates harsh shadows with well-defined edges, contrast, and texture (if used at an angle to the subject). Emphasizes texture, lines, and wrinkles. Often used to create a more dramatic type of portrait.
Soft light – Diffused light, such as that from an overcast sky, north-facing window with no direct light, or a large studio softbox. This type of light produces soft shadows with soft edges, lower contrast, and less texture. Soft light is generally preferred by most wedding and portrait photographers because it flatters the subject.
Rim light-can be created using a form of backlighting, where the light is at an angle from behind or above. The light will hit your subject in a way that creates a glowing outline or highlight around the subject, depending on the direction that your light is coming from. This technique is useful for distinguishing the subject from the background by providing definition.
Edge transfer – How quickly shadow edges go from dark to light. With harsh light, the edge transfer is very defined and sudden (almost a clear line). With soft lighting, the edge transfer is much more subtle – almost imperceptible – as it gradually changes from dark to light.
Flash sync – The synchronization of the firing of an electronic flash and the shutter speed. You need to know what shutter speed your camera syncs at; otherwise, if you use a too-fast shutter speed, you may get a partially illuminated image. For most cameras, the sync speed is around 1/200s.
source:expertphotography
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