One of the greatest challenges about shooting outdoors is the lighting. However, lighting is one of the most important factors in creating a dramatic photograph. The sun can be a harsh and unforgiving source of light at times, but there are ways to use it to your advantage. To further simplify the basics, I will use the same subject to exemplify different lighting situations outdoors.

Fig. 1

SHADE

Also called softlight, you do not need to worry about harsh sun hitting the subject. However, other factors may be of concern. Be aware of sunlight reflecting onto the subject, for example, from the pavement below. Also be mindful of too-bright backgrounds for which your camera’s automatic features will overcompensate and create a silhouette. Typically, shaded or softlit photographs best emphasize color differences and otherwise busy photographs where the sun lends too much contrast. 

FRONTLIGHT

Frontlight usually comes from behind the photographer and shines directly onto the subject. This tends to be the easiest lighting situation for your camera to gain correct exposure because nearly everything in the photo is lit in the same way. On the other hand, frontlight also decreases the contrast in colors of the photo. Let’s compare Figure 1 to Figure 2. The softlit photo contains more color detail and, therefore, is more effective because the subject is wearing neutral colors. It may be best to reserve this particular lighting situation for subjects with more color contrast. 

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

SIDELIGHT

Sidelighting can be a powerful photographic tool. A sidelit subject will inherently be bathed in light on one side and shaded or dark on the other. This almost creates a 3D effect, a bit of mystery, and tension in the photo. Sidelighting is most often used to enhance details of a subject because of the distinct and dramatic shadows that it casts.  

BACKLIGHT

A backlit photograph is one in which the light source is behind the subject. There are a few different possibilities with a backlit portrait. In Figure 4 below, you see a basic backlit photo where I merely pointed my camera towards my husband and shot the photo. While this can detail the top of the head quite well in subjects with hair, my husband doesn’t have any and let to a rather boring, not-so-well-lit picture. However, in Figure 5, I had him hold a piece of white paper in front of him to reflect the sun’s rays onto his face. Together with the backlighting, this created a more effective and more wholly lit situation, resulting in a better shot.  

With more extreme backlighting, you can actually create a silhouette of the subject by first focusing and metering your camera on the sky, then recomposing the shot with the subject. This should result in a strong silhouette. While the subject loses individual detail, the photo gains a dramatic effect. (See the silhouette photo in my Rule of Thirds article.)

Most importantly, however, is that these photos were taken during the “golden hour” or in the approximate hour before sunset. When the sun is at its lowest, it offers a warm, golden hue that is always pleasing in portraits. At this hour, you can avoid the blue cast that normal daylight will pose on your photos. 

Now, test yourself. Below are other everyday photographs taken on either automatic or AV mode. See if you can distinguish the type of lighting used and determine how it affected the feel of the photo, then apply those lighting situations to your photographs. Happy Scrapping! 

Fig. 6           Fig. 7

Fig. 8           Fig. 9

Fig. 10           Fig. 11      

Fig.  12