Light is very essential element in photography, without light – photography will not be possible. How to increase the quality of the photo light?

Photo light in the category of harsh light and soft light each has benefit. At daytime when the sky is blue and the sun is shining above us, you are dealing with harsh light that can create strong shadows. You can also use the built-in flash in the camera to create harsh light. In harsh light condition produced by the built-in flash, digital camera will experience complication in reading the exposure – the wide dynamic range between the highlight and the shadow. The camera will not be able to accentuate both details of the highlight and the shadow. See also the photo flash – the guide no.

The use of Softbox – Diffuser in Photo Light

Softbox or a diffuser is used to spread the light from a photo light source evenly and reduces harsh shadows. When the sky is cloudy, the sky will function as if it were a huge Softbox – this is an ideal condition to photograph the model or close-up. You can do the metering easily since the contrast has been reduced. There is no harsh shadow and no excessive light. This condition will create photo with much better detail and color saturation.

The girl on the above picture photographed when the sky was cloudy and the sun was covered by the grey cloud. See that the photo light is perfect without using any softbox or diffuser since the sky above her was a huge softbox. I should’ve utilized a simple reflector to reduce the shadow under the face.

Harsh photo light – such as the sun light at daytime or built-in flash – can be softened to yield more pleasant and more satisfactory photo results. There are lots of panel diffusion or light softener available in the market today. This semi-transparent device is placed between the subject and the sun light which can diffuse the strong light and accentuate the shadow detail. This diffuser is typically used in close-up and macro photography. This soft umbrella can be used as diffuser when the sun is shining very strong. Make sure that the diffuser is not included in your photo frame.

Photo Light Reflector

For outdoor photography you can use reflector which provides a more natural result because it utilizes the surrounding light and it is very handy and easy to use in outdoor photo activity. You can arrange the photo light bounced out of the reflector to the area of your subject. A large reflector can be used to accentuate detail area in a larger scale.

Commonly a reflector is in a circle form with a diameter around 1 m, and can be folded into one fourth. Such a two sided reflector version is commonly used, with white color in one side and the golden color in the other side. The white side is used to yield a natural color reflection, while golden and silver color or combination of both will produce specific color. Silver color for example will accentuate a fresh image particularly for the close up face and golden color can evoke a warmth skin tone. See also photography coloring technique.

You can make your own reflector by utilizing a large white paper which can reflect a soft photo light into the surface of the subject. Aluminum foil can be used to reflect a sharper light and clean. You need to crumple it to reduce the harsh reflection and spread the reflection not just on one point of reflection. Be careful with the bright area that can deceive the way your digital camera reading the metering, a proper compensation needed to anticipate the bright background. See also photo background issue.

Close-up photography has a classical condition that demands a reflector particularly outdoor photographing at the sunny day. If you cannot find a shade place to photograph the subject, the lighting condition with the high contrast will be a problem. You can arrange the subject so that the photo light will come from the side and use the reflector to illuminate the shade area of the face.

At the sunny day, you can direct the light to the subject even though using a simple reflector. The above picture photographed utilizing A0-sized white paper as the reflector to bounce the light to this little girl face. See that the natural light illuminates the face with a simple white paper reflector.

You can identify any available nature reflector around you which can reflect the light into your subject. For example the white snow can be used as a fill-light. The bright ceramic floor can be used as a reflector for your subject or even the white wall can be used too.

See also:

• Digital SLR Lenses – need to know about lenses
• Photography lighting techniques
• Photography composition techniques