Back to my Strobist Lessons then.

Lighting 102: Unit 2.1 - Apparent Light Size

I have always considered a Direct Flash to be a very Hard light source, but I've never really comsidered why. In this unit of Lighting 102, David has explained what it is that defines "Hard" or "Soft" light.

Basically there are 3 "Zones" of light on a subject when examined together will identify whether the light is soft or hard.


1 - The "Diffused Highlight"
2 - The "Shadow"
3 - The "Diffused Highlight to Shadow Transfer Area

The only one of these I didnt find self explanitory was the Diffused Highlight. Basically it's what would be considered the "Well Lit" area of the subject. The other two speak for themselves.

So, the bigger the "Diffused Highlight to Shadow Transfer Area" is, and therefore the more Gradiated the light will appear, the "Softer" the light is said to be. And the flip side of this is of course a very narrow transfer would be hard light.

Hard light will have very difinitive sharp edged Shadows.
Soft light will have very gradual edged Shadows.

Now, what causes this? Well initially I would have thought the Size of the light source, but it's not that simple. Thinking of the Sun for example. It's about as big as a light source is ever likely to get, however it's "Apparent Size" to me is tiny. (Ever pretended to hold the sun between a finger and a Thumb?)

It's the "Apparent" size of the Light Source with respect to the Subject that will determine whether the light is Hard or Soft. (Eureka Moment for me here)

To test this theory David suggested we shoot images of a piece of Fruit, and vary the apparent size of the light source.

Here goes: (Click for full size)





All in all, I think I've had a very successful result from this experiment, and it has definately changed how I think about how a light source (or the apparent size of it) will effect my subjects.

One other point David made on the forums was to keep an eye on the "Specular Highlight" (The reflection of the light source), and how it changed with each setup. Although it's pretty much blown out on my Images, it's clear to see the intensity of it reduces as the apparent light size increases.

Paypal Shmaypal !!

Things certainly appear to have slowed down regarding my producing Images lately. I've gone from a full Memory Card-per day, to no Images in nearly an entire week!

A major factor in this being the lovely British Weather we've been having lately(more Rain than I can remember for many years). In addition to that, I'm getting really frustrated trying to setup shots using the "Shoe Mount" method. It's great to start with, but it becomes laborious trying to get the correct positioning, especially when I'm also using a Sync Cord to fire it.

What I really need to get moving again (well in my mind anyway) is a Lightstand and a remote trigger. Now, I could use my Tripod if I could get my hands on a bloody Hot Shoe adaptor to enable me to fix the strobe on, however after trawling just about every Photog Shop in the South West, it seems clear no one ever has them in stock.

The easy solution of course is to but one off the Web..... or so you would think.

Unfortunately, my only option for purchasing from the Web is via Paypal. Having gone through the signup process, I then had to wait for them to deposit a few pence into my Bank Account for it to be "Verified". This finally happened today(After over a week). Yippee! Pity I now have to wait for "7-9 Working Days" for the funds to be transferred into the Paypal account :-(

One saving grace is that the Strobist lesson for this week does not involve shooting, so hopefully I'll have my gear in time for the next practical lesson.

This week's lesson, Lighting 102 - Position Review is very simply about trying to become more aware of lighting position in our day to day life, trying to identify what sort of natural ligting effects we find appealing. This is actually a great exercise for me as it's something I've been doing since I decided to get back into Photography. I have already identified many types of lighting situations I would love to be able to reproduce. Now I just have to figure out how to make them happen with unnatural light.