• Home
  • Store
  • Beat Dietsch’s Portfolio
  • Licensing
  • About Me


    If I am not taking photos, I am the permanent stunt double of the Incredible Hulk. Enjoy my photographs!

  • Follow Me On

Light before byte

20. December 2015

Photography means writing with light

There are different kind of light situations when shooting:

  • Soft light
  • Hard light

I would like to tell you about the difference between the lights and what it means when taking pictures.

The hard light

The hard light is typically a light that comes from a sop and the direction is given; like in landscape photography the sun when there are no clouds. Because of this fact, the hard light brings a lot of shadows into a picture. Looking overall to such a picture, there are a lot of contrast in those pictures.
Of course using this technique, the eyes will focus towards the light and not the shadow area of the picture. But in the shadow area, the details will be lost and not visible for observer of the image.
That is not the situation I prefer because the strong light effect leaves outside the light spot everything in the dark. I kind of think it is not feeling interesting to me.

The soft light

The soft light is more the situation I work with – sunrise or sunset (mostly sunset) I prefer to take pictures.
There are also shadows in the soft light, but not as tough as the ones from the hard light. Also the light comes from one direction, just not as concentrated as the hard light. It is more a light source with a diffusor in front of it; like clouds cover the sun and there is a brighter light overall the scene. The clouds in front of the sun scatter the light so there is a way smoother situation.
I figured over the years that hard light give in certain situations some depth into the picture and the observer has a more “realistic 3D view”.
The soft light has a lot less contrasts in a pictures and has a lot less drama in it. But this is where image post processing comes in. I simply change the picture the way I like it and try to guide the observers eyes towards the direction I want it.

 

 

Share

General  / Journal

  • Do you want to learn photography?

    Do it with me and jump over to my store. There are several eBooks and presets I have been working on over the past few years – no kidding, it took me quite some time to make all this happen! And I am still working on it, there is more to come!

     


    Photography Store by Beat Dietsch

  • My Next Trip


    Beat Dietsch’s next trip: Albania

     

    Come join me on an adventure through the breathtaking scenery of Europe as I set out on a road trip from Switzerland to Albania. Currently, the trip is scheduled for September, but be sure to check my social media accounts for updates and sneak peeks of the journey, including a new beautiful photograph every other day.

     

    by Beat Dietsch

     

    There will be a lot of fun! Take care and stay save!

  • Recent Posts

    • Nancy – A city filled with History
    • The Shibuya Crossing
    • A Charming City
    • Big Apple
    • Chasing the Eifel Tower
  • Follow Me On



© Beat Dietsch - www.lightsandbytes.com - Bringing Photography into Focus

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}