Light is everything in photography, it is capable of radically transforming an image, transforming its meaning, its sensations and its message (I recommend you delve into the subject of lighting in photography in this mega guide that we have prepared for you). Something apparently as simple as changing the orientation of the light, its intensity or its temperature, can be key when thinking about a portrait and obtaining a good result. Today we will see how to get the most out of the most controversial light of all, the hard light, to achieve dramatic portraits.
One moment, before continuing, if you are interested in this discipline, do not miss the complete guide on portrait photography where we tell you all the tricks, tips and inspiration, much more than you can imagine.
What is hard light?
The hardness or softness of light is part of what we call light quality. Hard light is characterized by creating very strong shadows and dark and a lot of contrast between black and white (the transition from white to black is very fast).
Applied in portraits, hard light creates very marked shadows in some areas of the face, and highlights the volume and textures of the face (depending on the orientation of the light) making them much more dramatic.
How to get hard light for your dramatic portraits?
Hard light depends on several aspects, such as the intensity, the size of the source or the directionality of the light.
The size of the light source: Hard light is achieved with small light sources. The smaller this light source, the harsher it will be. Think, for example, of the illumination a flashlight provides in a dark room versus a larger lamp.
Distance: How close or far away the light source also affects the hardness of the light source. Imagine the illumination of a lamp and what happens if you bring it close to a wall. The closer you are to the wall, the less the light is scattered and the harsher it becomes, while if you move the lamp away from the wall, the light is scattered and softer.
directionality: The orientation or direction of the light also depends on the texture, the sensation of volume and the intensity of the tones.
- Front: Bring out the details of the face and reduce the textures
- Side: Highlight textures and increase volume
- Overhead: Create deep shadows under eyes, nose and chin
- Nadir or contrapicado: Creates quite unnatural shadows on the face
- Rear: To play with backlights, contrasts or silhouettes
hard light sources
Hard light is very easy to get. A simple lamp without a shade, a flashlight, flashlight, or simply the sun when it is high in the sky are all sources of hard light. Remember that the smaller this light source is and the closer it is to your model, the harder it will be.
- Lamp without diffusing screen
- flashlights
- Sunlight
- Flash
- Windows
What type of measurement is better?
Not only the light itself is important. It is as or more important to know how and where to measure it, especially in scenes with this kind of contrasting light. A bad measurement in scenes with such a difference between light and shadow will make the image lose its drama.
Measurement Types
Matrix or evaluative: We always say that it is the one that works well in 98% of the cases. Well, this is that 2% that won’t work for you 😉 Matrix metering works evaluating all the tones of the scene and offering you one average exposure which tries to be correct for all lights. In this case where the light is so harsh and contrasted and there is such a difference between lights and shadows, we are not interested in a “correct” measurement for the entire image, mainly because the cameras are not prepared to work with such a high dynamic range (difference between lights and shadows).
Punctual: Measures the light at the exact point you indicate without taking into account the tonal information that surrounds that point. It is the most accurate of all, although that does not mean that it works well in all situations. It is very useful for scenes with a marked difference in light between our center of interest and the rest of the scene.
Center-weighted or partial evaluative: Takes the information from the central area of the image as it is considered the most important in the scene.
For these types of scenes, what do you think would be the most suitable metering mode? If you thought of spot mode, you were right 😉 To work with hard light in portraits, we recommend using a spot metering due to the high contrast between highlights and shadows.
Why use hard light for more dramatic portraits?
And you will say to yourself, if I spend the day running away from it, modifying it through diffusers, looking for the first and last hours of light, looking for shadows in broad daylight, why should I want to work with it now? Well, because hard light is a fantastic tool to play with. dramatics in your portraits
The symbolism that this type of light has, the jump from light to dark, the jump between good and evil, between light and darkness, the mystery and the high contrast that these images contain are capable of provoking multitudes of sensations in the viewer. Beyond the beauty of soft light, hard light has a powera dramatics that as a photographer you cannot let go 🙂
A good ally for dramatic portraits: black and white
Black and white is a good ally for high-contrast photos in general. Due to its high symbolic content, due to the elimination of color, in short, because it seems that it tolerates much better contrasts that in color would not be or may not be as attractive.
You’re not going to tell me that you’re not going to dare with hard light, are you? With some very simple preparation such as a simple light bulb, a patient model, a good background and good light measurement, you will achieve super dramatic portraits worthy of the best photography studio in your city. So you know, to practice, that therein lies the key to any learning. And, if this article has been useful to you, please share it. Thank you and see you next time.