6 Lighting Facts Every Photographer Should Understand

Artificial lighting can be a bit tough for a lot of photographers to master, but once you understand the fundamental behavior of light and some of its basic properties, you will be well on your way to creating better images. If you are new to artificial lighting, this fantastic video details six fundamental lighting facts every photographer should know. 

Coming to you from Karl Taylor, this helpful video discusses six important lighting facts every photographer should know. Of them, the two that you should definitely start with are the size of the light and the relationship with its hardness or softness. The important thing to remember with size is that it is about the relative size of the source (compared to the subject), not the absolute size. This is why the sun, though huge, is a hard light source, as it is so far away that it is relatively small. This also means that even somewhat medium or small modifiers can create soft light if you place them close to your subject. If you are new to lighting, take time with a single light source to experiment with these ideas. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Taylor. 

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Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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Great information!