Direct and Indirect Light
Photography literally means painting with light. As light (photons) enters our digital sensor, the photons knock lose some electrons (photodiode). The camera can measure these electrons to construct the image.
Direct light. Light shining directly on the subject and producing strong highlights and deep shadows.
Direct light, but a bit softer: This shot's all about softening the image. Warm late or early day light is less harsh and more flattering. Note the soft modeling on this subject's skin.
Direct light comes from a point source, such as the sun on a clear day. Direct light produces dark, hard-edged shadows that crisply outline details. Here the light and shadows almost form an abstraction.
Mid-Day, Direct Light: This light is horrible for flower photography. This light should be used only if a diffuser is being used to soften the light.
Lastly, indirect light can be used to make your subject glow soft and pretty.
Top 10 Beginning Photography Tips ...
Diffuse and Direct Light in Photography
The direction of light in photography is important: different angles of light produce different shadows, changing the appearance of your subject.
Reflectors (to redirect light)
Flat devices, mostly white, silver, or gold, that redirect the sun's and other source's rays. Lighting with reflectors is like lighting with lights - except no cables. Just cloud and wind worries.
-When you want to provide fill-in light for shadow areas, it is often desirable to substitute a plane reflector (sometimes called a reflector board) to redirect the light from a direct light source (fig. 1-15).
Is the face in shadow or is does direct light fall upon it? Are there distractions in the background that direct the viewer’s eye away from the animal?
You don't want direct light streaming in through a window because it will have too much contrast in the final picture. You might find that light near a big window, a doorway that opens to the outside, or under a porch.
The system utilizes a beam splitter (implemented as a small semi-transparent area of the main reflex mirror, coupled with a small secondary mirror) to direct light to an AF sensor at the bottom of the camera.
This works best with indirect light, so find a window away from direct sun or just have your subject take a step backward so that the direct light is just in front of them.
Photos in the beaming sunshine (direct light) will not necessarily look the best.
You will also need reflectors to redirect light as they give that impression of having more than just one light. It will help you get good lighting on all sides of your subject. You may also need diffusers.
Direct light produces sharp dark shadows. Diffused or indirect light produces softer tones. For dark shadows and high contrast difference between light and dark use direct light.
When indirect dim lighting from ambient sources or low direct light from the moon represents your primary light source(s), you begin to see the world in a completely different way.
Quality of Light. Direct light produces sharp dark shadows and contrast between light and dark. Diffused light, such as the light of a cloudy day, softens shadows and produces softer tones of gray in your photo.
A light modifier is anything that is used to shape or otherwise direct light.
At sunrise or sunset, direct light works well for alpine landscapes. If foreground flowers land in shadow while the sky and mountain peaks are sunlit, use a split neutral-density filter to balance the exposure.
elliptical reflector
a direct light source reflector used in UV curing for focusing the energy onto a specific area.
Elmendorf test
a standard test for determining the tear strength of a material such as paper.
Direct light is rarely interesting. Oblique light enhances contrast. Dawn and dusk light are beautiful times of day. Many buildings lend themselves to twilight or night views if there is adequate interior and exterior lighting.
The examples in this lesson form a basic introduction to lighting with reflected, instead of direct light. There is no limit to the tricks and techniques of this style and new techniques are being developed every day.
Nothing you've ever seen before prepares you for the breathtaking quality of a total eclipse — an eclipse in which the disk of the moon blocks out all of the direct light from the disk of the sun.
The bare-bulb flash heads were directed away from the model to avoid any direct light on her. Use the white walls of your studio to bounce the light back.
There is a slight, but acceptable, video lag and it works very well in all but the brightest direct light, and does an excellent job when it gets very dark.
14 Soft light is more forgiving than direct light. Diffuse flash and use reflectors to bounce light onto your subject to achieve this.
They're too close to the lens and they (with occasional exception) give harsh, direct light. That said, I know a very good wedding photographer who reckons that the built-in flash of DSLRs these days are pretty good, for when all else fails.
One thing we are certain of, Mel did not use direct flash here! Can you imagine what effect the harsh direct light of the flash would have on this photo?
So, to take great holiday photos in this season of lights, we offer you these four tips: ...
Lens Hood is a camera accessory that fits on to the end of the lens that can shield the lens from direct light rays that will cause lens flare or other aberrations in a photograph.
Lens Speed ...
Most units must be used on or close to the camera for direct lighting only. And the camera lens must be set to a specific aperture (or a small range of apertures) determined by the speed of the film in use.
DIFFUSED LIGHT or DIFFUSE LIGHTING - Light that is scattered and spread out as opposed to specular light. Diffused light is softer than direct light, with shadows that are less sharply-defined (lower contrast).
Its power is enough to light subjects up to 3 or 4 meters away and it can be perfect for filling in dark shadows when capturing images in harsh sunlight.
It is less suited for direct flash however, because it emits a hard direct light that ...
Microlenses capture the light striking the top portion of the camera sensor's pixels and redirect it into the pixel for processing. Microlenses are often angled along the edges of camera sensors in order to capture and redirect light back into the ...
Reflectors are either placed on a stand or other support, or held by an assistant to direct light onto a subject. Reflectors are generally held at an equal angle from the light source and the subject.
 See also: Light, Photograph, Camera, Image, Photography
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