Light Terminology

                              Light Terminology

Back Lighting

Back lighting is when the light source is facing towards the viewer with the subject in between, This causes the subject to darken and sometimes causes a glow around the edges of the subject. Back lighting is the process of illuminating a subject from the background and often creates a silhouette effect.

Front Lighting

Front lighting is a lighting technique in which the light source is directly in front of the subject. This accentuates details of the subject, however it often results in the subject looking flat particularly in portraits. 

Soft Lighting

Soft lighting is when a light source creates a wraparound effect upon a subject this causes no harsh edges. Soft light means that the light that falls on the subject comes from multiple sources, from multiple directions or from a single, very large light source quite close to the subject that avoids harsh bright and dark areas, creating a gradual transition from highlights to shadows.

Hard Lighting

Hard light is light that comes from a single source, such as a light bulb, and falls directly on the subject from one direction without being reflected off other surfaces. It generally casts dark shadows and produces high contrast pictures with deep black and bright highlights. The shadows also generally have a very distinct or hard edge, so that the outline of the object closely reflects the shape of the shadow.   

Studio Lighting

Studio lighting doesn't mean it has to be set up in a studio, it can be used in various locations. The most common lights used on studio lighting are strobe, HMI, tungsten and fluorescent. Umbrellas and soft boxes are also used with the lighting. Soft boxes generates a shadow less diffuse light from a large surface. Umbrellas reflect the light and generally create a defused light source.

Natural Lighting

Natural lighting is the most accessible form of lighting. Natural lighting is either daylight (sunlight) or moonlight. 

Torch Lighting 

Torch lighting is illuminating certain areas of a subject by pointing it directly towards the subject to create a spotlight effect.

Laser Lighting

Laser lighting is commonly used in light paintings.They are created by using various coloured laser pens and a camera with a slow shutter. It is better to use a DSLR rather than a SLR as you can view your image straight away after the image is taken.

Still Life Digital Photography

Digital Photography

This is a print I like the least because i think that the composition itself is weak in the sense that there is not much lighting on the objects and does not fully relate to the theme of light. 

This is one of my favourite compositions. The angle of the light creates dark shadows and reflective light  off of the objects. 

This is another one of my favourite compositions because I like the way the objects all link together.  The surfaces of the taps and the anchor are so different that they work well together, Its a comparison between old and new. 

These are some of the images that I took experimenting with the theme of light. I changed the position of the lighting on the different objects to create areas of light and dark through the shadows. I used my digital camera take these still life shots. I changed the arrangement of the objects to create different interesting compositions using the same objects. 

Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt, May 3rd 1904 - December 20th 1983, was a British photographer and photojournalists. He is said to be one of Britain's greatest 20th century photographers. He took up photography when living in Vienna in the 1920s, and spent three months assisting Man Ray in his studio in Paris before settling in London in 1931. from the 1930'40s Brandt submitted work to various illustrated magazines, including Picture Post and Lilliput, and published several books. He developed an expressive style, combining social observation with a subtle streak of strangeness. During the 1940s he also worked as a portraitist and landscape photographer. From 1945 Brandt began to concentrate on the female nude, using a wide-angle lens to produce images of surreal distortion.

Throughout his life he photographed everyday occurrences. During the Blitz of World War II he photographed London at night when the crowds took refuge in the underground to escape from the destructive chaos that was happening above. After the war he then changed his style of work, he moved on to exploring nudes, portraits and landscapes. His nude photos were classified as exploring the modern abstraction and sculpture. Brandt regarded darkroom work as crucial and liked to complete his images by retouching and enhancing them with pen and pencil. 
The lighting within his work has been carefully thought out as to where the angle of the picture should be taken from to capture the full essence of the subject matter. Most of his works have been associated with surrealism as he explores different angles and subjects to create imaginative photographs. I find his work very fascinating and engaging as when I look at his work I feel a sense for fear as well as invitation to his photos. As his images are in black and white it simplifies the subject matter and evokes more of an emotion whether that being fear or warmth towards them. My initial thoughts on his images are that they are quite spooky but when looking at them I feel as if I am being drawn in to find out more information about his intentions of creating the images and why he had chosen that particular subject matter and what he is trying to achieve from the photographs. 
His famous photograph 'Ear on the Beach' 1957 reminds me of being on holiday in Britain as the sky is cloudy but even if the weather is bad we still spend the day on the beach.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso, 25th October 1881 - 8 April 1973, was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer. Light drawings are when an artists uses a slow shutter speed on a camera then captures the subject of the light in the hands of an artist creating the image. Photographer Gjon Milli visited Picasso in 1949 and showed him some of his photographs where tiny lights affixed to the skates of ice skaters jumping in the dark. This made Picasso begin to think about the different possibilities of images you can create with light. This led Picasso onto creating a series of light drawings. They were made with a small flashlight in a dark room.

 The meanings of his light drawings I could not find however I think that the use of a yellow light in his image of the vase symbolises that the flowers could be sunflowers or various yellow flowers. In his other light drawings it is clear to see what his drawings are of. In quite a few he has drawn the silhouette people and himself. The scale of the work is large as you can see faint images of his movement in the background. In my opinion I think that this makes the images more unique to Picasso as you can see him. I like that he has been inspired and has experimented with light drawings as it is not like Picasso's usual work. It shows that an artist does not have to have a certain theme or movement with their work, It shows that he is a more versatile artist. However the art movement that his work mainly was is surrealism. 


When I first saw his light drawing images I didn't think of it as being Picasso's work as I associate Picasso with his works such as his 'blue' period. In my opinion it is nice to see that Picasso has done other forms of art rather than his paintings because it shows that he is more talented than just being able to paint, and that he gets inspired by other artists and explores more into their work by creating his own images in the style of others like Gjon Milli. To me his light drawings make me feel free, this is because of the soft bright lines created be the light are not straight pointy lines, they're smooth calm lines created by the light source. When looking at the different images i prefer to think of them as sound waves rather than a subject in a photo. The reason for this is because of the simplicity of lines symbolize a calm tone of sound to me. 

Light Mindmap

This is a Mind map I created which is based on various forms of light, also including artists relating to light.

Light Mood Board

Our new brief is on the theme of 'light', throughout the theme of light, me will be exploring the use of light in different ways, creating pictures with laser pens and experimenting with using SLR cameras. We will then explore the theme of light in our own way to come up with imaginative ideas within the theme of light. We will be looking at different artists such as Cindy Sherman, Pablo Picasso and Andy Potts.

Links to the images:

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