Lighting for photography can vary depending upon whether you shoot indoor, outdoor, color, black and white, or nighttime. We will cover each of these in general terms to give an idea of what is possible in the world of photography. All cameras require some source of light in order to capture the subject. The light itself can help set the mood for the picture you are trying to create. Harsh light or hard light give the subject matter much more detailed substance, it pops out at you. Soft lighting or diffuse lighting can lend it self to more spiritual or sensual settings. For example, many times soft lighting will be used when the subject is a beautiful woman. The diffuse light will soften the lines of her face giving either a more angelic look to her or more sensual depending on what you have in mind. Add a red gel to your light and you suddenly change the mood of the set, your model becomes a fiery vixen ready for action.
Studio lighting gives the photographer greater control over what is happening to the subject in terms of lighting. There are three types of lights used in a studio; these are key, fill, and back lighting. Together they are referred to as three point lighting which can be used in television programs to your basic still photo studio. The key light for your subject is the light that dominates the subject, it gives the most detail. This light is more focused, like a flashlight, on the subject. The fill light helps to soften up the harshness of the key, and it provides light upon the areas the key might have missed. This light is spreads out bathing everything evenly. Finally we have the back light to give the subject extra definition from behind. You can play with combinations of three point lighting to come up with some creative ways to shoot your subject. Take away the key and fill from the mix and the result is a silhouette which could make the subject mysterious or foreboding. Just have the key light will give you a harsh tone that could be used for dramatic effect. Take away color from the subject and it adds a more noir look. The options are endless, but the thing is your using lighting as the tool to change what is being shot on film.
Outdoor lighting is a bit tougher to control when shooting a subject. Your key light is usually the Sun. This gives you a limited amount of time to shoot something because the Sun does not stay in one place, and it will eventually go down. You can simulate the Sun with lights, but they need to be fairly powerful, cables need to be safely anchored, and you need a power source like a portable generator. Shooting outdoors means most of the techniques for lighting still apply. You need a source light as your key, a fill to soften things up, and possibly a back light. If sunlight is your source then a reflective photo umbrella can easily provide the fill, just bounce the sunlight back unto the subject. If shooting in daylight, then a back light isn’t necessary. If you are shooting at night, then you’ll need to find a way to provide key, fill, and back to your subject.