Who Cares About Where the Light Comes From?

Statue of Liberty with Crowd

Finally, after years of traveling to the world’s major cities, my husband and I made it to New York City.  I was delighted to find myself on the boat to Liberty Island and was determined to get the best shot that I could of this American icon.  These are three of many, and illustrate the problems of dealing with the direction of light when you can’t really control where you stand.  We had been blessed with a sunny day.  BUT … that meant I had to pay attention to the direction of the sun and time my shot accordingly.

Take a look at the light and shadows in these three shots.  The first shot is a side view of the statue, and the sun is coming from the left side.  This is known as “side lighting.”  Light coming from the side creates a bright spot on the side and accentuates the shadows that follow as the effect of the light diminishes. Because the sun is higher in the sky, the effect flattens the shadows to some degree.

Statue of Liberty

A similar effect is happening in the photo on the right, a closer view of the statue. Now the light is coming over my right shoulder and is lower in the sky.  This is knows as “front side lighting.”  The effect is to create a light spot on the front of the statue and to dramatize the shadows on the left side and back.

Statue of Liberty and her Island

Now look at last photograph, on the left, showing the statue and the island itself. The light is coming from the front and is lower in the sky.  Because of the low angle, the light creates shadows that still contour the texture of the statue and the base, but because it comes from the front, I also have a dramatic reflection.

Light can come from either side, or the front or the back of a subject, as well as from any of the four corners in between. The direction can also be low in the sky or high in the sky. Each direction of light creates its own effect.  As the photographer, you need to figure out how to maximize the light that is present and how to move to create the effect you want.  To understand this better, find a textured building in your town, and visit it at different times on sunny days. Watch what happens to the shadows created by the textures as our rotating earth changes the direction of the sun on the building. Take pictures early in the day, late in the day, and in the middle of the day, and at several times in between. You will come away with a much clearer understanding of the effect of the direction of the light.