photographed as lighter in color than they would be at a
closer distance.
Color saturation–The scattering of light not only
affects contrast and brightness but also color saturation.
Color is defined by three qualities: hue (the actual
wavelength), saturation (intensity or chroma), and
brightness (reflective). A pure hue is fully saturated or
undiluted. When a hue is desaturated or diluted, it is no
longer pure but has gray intermingled with it. The actual
colors of a distant scene appear to have less color
saturation, because the light is scattered and also
because of the overall presence of the desaturated
(diluted) blue light of aerial haze. The original scene
colors appear less saturated or pure when seen or
photographed from a distance than from close-up;
therefore, color saturation or desaturation allows the
viewer to perceive distance in a color photograph.
Sharpness–Because of atmospheric haze, there is
a loss of image sharpness or definition in distant objects.
This loss of sharpness is caused both by the lowering of
contrast and the scattering of light. The loss of sharpness
contributes to a sense of distance. This can be enhanced
by setting the far limit of the lens depth of field just short
of infinity. This procedure throws the most distant
objects slightly out of focus. This combined with the
other effects of aerial perspective intensities the sense
of distance.
PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHTING
In this discussion of lighting, the basic lighting
techniques used by photographers are presented.
Lighting used primarily with a certain segment of
photography, such as motion picture, TV, portrait, and
studio, are discussed in the chapters relevant to that
particular subject.
OUTDOOR LIGHTING
As a photographer, you work with light to produce
quality pictures. The color, direction, quantity, and
quality of the light you use determines how your
subjects appear. In the studio, with artificial light
sources, you can precisely control these four effects;
however, most of the pictures you make are taken
outdoors. Daylight and sunlight are not a constant
source, because they change hourly and with the
weather, season, location, and latitude. This changing
daylight can alter the apparent shapes, colors, tones, and
forms of a scene. The color of sunlight changes most
rapidly at the extreme ends of the day. Strong color
changes also occur during storms, haze, or mist and on
blue wintery days. The direction of light changes as the
sun moves across the sky. The shape and direction of
shadows are altered, and the different directions of
sunlight greatly affect the appearance of a scene.
The quality of sunlight depends on its strength and
direction. Strong, direct sunlight is “hard” because it
produces dark, well-defined shadows and brilliant
highlights, with strong modeling of form. Sunlight is
hardest on clear summer days at noon. Strong sunlight
makes strong colors more brilliant, but weak colors pale.
Sunlight is diffused by haze, mist, and pollution in the
air. This diffused or reflected light is softer; it produces
weak, soft shadows and dull highlights. Directionless,
diffused sunlight is often called “flat” lighting because
it produces fine detail but subdues or flattens form.
Weak, directionless sunlight provides vibrant,
well-saturated colors.
Frontlighting
The old adage about keeping the sun at your back is
a good place to continue our discussion of outdoor
lighting. The type of lighting created when the sun is in
back of the photographer is called frontlighting. This
over-the-shoulder lighting was probably the first
photographic advice you ever received. This may seem
to be a universal recipe for good photography. But it is
not. The case against over-the-shoulder lighting is it
produces a flattened effect, doing nothing to bring out
detail or provide an impression of depth. The human eye
sees in three dimensions and can compensate for poor
lighting. A photograph is only two-dimensional;
therefore, to give an impression of form, depth, and
texture to the subject, you should ideally have the light
come from the side or at least at an angle.
Side Lighting
As you gain experience with various types of
outdoor lighting, you discover that interesting effects
can be achieved by changing the angle of the light falling
on your subject. As you turn your subject, change the
camera viewpoint, or wait for the sun to move, the light
falls more on one side, and more shadows are cast on
the opposite side of the subject. For pictures in which
rendering texture is important, side lighting is ideal.
Look at a brick wall, first in direct front sunlight and
then in side lighting. Direct, front sunlight shows the
pattern of the bricks and mortar in a flat, uninformative
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