Steve Korn, Seattle Editorial Photographer, discusses hard light and how to create a dramatic portrait at LE

The Hard Life: Embracing and Experimenting with Small Light Sources
by Steve Korn, Seattle Editorial Photographer

“Avoid mid-day sun, it’s too hard and contrasty.”

“Learning to light, start with an umbrella.”

“If your subject is a woman, you should use soft, flattering light.”

“Get the light as close to your subject as possible to achieve the softest light.”

“The larger the light source, the softer it will be, better get the biggest one you can.”

These sentiments are ubiquitous. We learn early on that hard light as a bad thing and should be avoided. Well, no one says that it’s a bad thing, instead they tell you, “It all depends upon the kind of look you want.” Funny thing is no one seems to want anything that doesn’t look like the light was run through a giant marshmallow.

via lighting-essentials.com

Thanks to Steve for this wonderful post.

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