Hard vs Soft Light
By: Daniel
All photographers talk about hard vs soft light; but what exactly is hard and soft light? What determines whether the light is hard or soft? Is natural light, i.e., light coming essentially from the sun soft or hard? Is flash hard or soft, etc. The following is a quick summary of hard vs soft light.
It’s relatively easy to demonstrate hard vs soft lighting because the major distinction between the two is the shadow(s) or rather the edge of the shadow left by the light or lights. With a soft lit subject, the shadow is indistinct, fuzzy, and not sharply defined. With hard lighting the shadow is crisp, more defined and easier to distinguish from the rest of the image. There’s a time and place for both styles of lighting. Many images are lit with harder light because it brings a crispness to the photograph. In other images the softness lends a more subtle gentle tone to the image conveying a different message. Many fashion shots are lit with harder light to illustrate clothing or makeup better, or simply to make them really stand out, whereas a portrait style image is more often a time when soft light is used.
When shooting models, or graduating seniors, both styles of lighting are often used. In the images of two models illustrated above, (both models were shot with the key light on camera right) the image on the left demonstrates soft lighting. You can see that the shadow on the right side of her face and on her neck does not have a sharp distinction with the portion of her face that has light on it. In short, the line between shadow and light is not sharp and distinct. Whereas in the image of the model on the right you can see the shadow line, under her jawline, is very sharp and distinct—portraying hard lighting. In both cases this is the type of lighting I wanted. The models pose on the left looks better with soft lighting, it’s a subdued more thoughtful pose; and she was lit with a large soft box close to her; the model on the right is more aggressive, the clothing more colorful and defined, with rim lighting and hair lighting from the sun, therefore I chose to use a harder lighting scheme for her image, (a feathered silver reflector was my key light on camera right) and it works for me.
Soft or hard light is determined by the shadow line. You can achieve that by using natural light, flash, or reflectors. If you face a person directly into the sun and photograph them it’s likely you will get hard lighting. You’ll get a very sharp shadow line under their chin and perhaps their nose, depending on the pose. If you place that same person in a wooded area, where the sunlight is filtered through trees and foliage and bounced all around you can achieve very soft lighting due to the diffusion of your light source. If you diffuse your light and place it very close to the subject, you will soften the light illuminating your subject. That’s where umbrellas and soft boxes come into use. With on camera flash if you shoot directly at the subject, you’ll get hard light but turn your flash upward toward a corner or upward and behind you bouncing off a wall, prior to hitting your subject, and you’ll get very soft light because you’ll have created a very large soft box. The rule of thumb is the closer and bigger your light source is (assuming it’s not direct flash) the softer your light will be. This applies to soft boxes, umbrellas, and even a white reflector in a studio acting as a fill to help illuminate and soften the light from your key light. Early morning and late evening light is soft because it’s diffused via the atmosphere it travels through, which also effects its color tone. (That’s the quick and easy explanation.) So, if you’re in a studio, or outdoors, using a soft box, put it as close as you can to your subject for soft light, and place it further away for a harder light—the same applies if you’re using an umbrella.
