science

Hard and soft light

Hard and soft light is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hard and soft light rather than just read about it. In short: Hard and soft light are different types of lighting that are commonly used in photography and filmmaking. Soft light is light that tends to "wrap" around objects, projecting diffused shadows with soft edges, whereas hard light is more focused and produces harsher shadows.

Key takeaways

Hard and soft light belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hard and soft light to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hard and soft light from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hard and soft light are different types of lighting that are commonly used in photography and filmmaking. Soft light is light that tends to "wrap" around objects, projecting diffused shadows with soft edges, whereas hard light is more focused and produces harsher shadows. The hardness or softness of light depends mostly on three features of the source: the size of its surface, its distance from the object, and the thickness of its diffusion material. A large, distant light source with thick diffusion material will produce softer lighting than one that is smaller and closer to the subject, with thinner diffusion material.

Soft light Soft light tends to "wrap" around subjects, producing shadows with soft, fuzzy edges. Softness of light increases with the size of the light source, as the emitted light rays will travel in many directions as they move toward the subject. Light sources can also produce softer light by using diffusion material (like in a softbox) or by bouncing the light off a surface (like with a reflector). Soft light use is popular in photography and cinematography. By diffusing hard shadows, softening dark areas, and removing sharp edges, soft light produces more flattering images of the human form. Colours may also appear richer and more realistic.

Hard light

Hard light comes from a single, usually bright, source, which is relatively small compared to the subject. Photographs taken in such lighting have high contrast and sharply defined shadows. The appearance of the shadow depends on the lighting instrument. For example, Fresnel lights can be focused such that their shadows can be "cut" with crisp shadows. That is, the shadows produced will have 'harder' edges with less transition between illumination and shadow. The focused light will produce harder-edged shadows. Focusing a Fresnel lens makes the rays of emitted light more parallel. The parallelism of these rays determines the quality of the shadows. For shadows with no transitional edge/gradient, a point light source is required. Hard light casts strong, well defined shadows. When hitting a textured surface at an angle, hard light will accentuate the textures and details in an object. This will also increase the 3D-appearance of the object.

Fall-off

Light intensity tends to dim with distance. For a point source of light, intensity decreases as distance increases. Intensity (I) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance (D), as expressed by the formula I = 1⁄D2. For a point light source, with a tiny area, intensity is inversely proportional to distance. A softer light source is larger in area and so does not drop in intensity as quickly as a point light source does. Certain lensed lighting instruments (such as ellipsoidal reflector spotlights) have a good deal of "throw" and do not lose much intensity as distance increases. The nearly parallel rays of such instruments tends to cast hard shadows. These light sources tend to be more effective at long distances than soft light sources.

Softness/hardness of various light sources Most light sources have a non-negligible size and therefore exhibit the properties of a soft light to some degree. Even direct sunlight does not cast perfectly hard shadows. In "hard" light sources, the parallelism of the rays is an important factor in determining shadow behaviour. The quality of light can be altered by using diffusion gel or aiming a lighting instrument at diffusing material such as a silk. When shooting outdoors, cloud cover provides nature's version of a softbox.

See also Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight Beauty dish

References

External links http://www.shortcourses.com/tabletop/lighting2-8.html

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hard and soft light

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hard and soft light claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hard and soft light before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hard and soft light ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hard and soft light

In research: Hard and soft light appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hard and soft light in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hard and soft light is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Photographic lighting, Photography equipment, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hard and soft light outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hard and soft light in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hard and soft light means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hard and soft light out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hard and soft light in simple terms?

Why does Hard and soft light matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hard and soft light?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hard and soft light.