How do you like your light… hard or soft?

The actual answer depends on what mood you are trying to set in the picture you are taking.

When a photographer uses the term ‘hard’ to describe the light they are usually referring to light from a single small source. Bright sunlight at midday is hard for example, as is light from a single spot light or flash.Hard light generally makes for very dark or black shadows, a high contrast, and intense colours in any scene.

Soft light on the other hand is light which is more diffused. There is less contrast, and the reduction in areas of intense dark shadow allows more detail to appear.

Putting some tissue or tracing paper between a hard light source and the subject will result in diffusing/softening of the light. Equally good is bouncing light from surfaces, such as reflectors or walls. This is fine indoors with spot lights or flash; but outdoors it’s a little trickier. Depending on the subject, sometimes the only option available is to wait for some cloud.

Getting yourself familiar with the differences between hard and soft light and the way it effects the mood of the subject is a good idea, since it can have a radical effect on the final image.