In yesterday’s post about Hannah, one comment lamented that the light was not more directional. I want to explore that a bit. Hannah was with two friends, Mark and Alex, sitting at an outdoor table on Main St., Sarasota.

Main St. runs approximately east-west, ending near Sarasota Bay. On both the north and south sides, retail stores and restaurants line the street. In the northern hemisphere, the sun is always to the south of overhead, being close to overhead in summer, and farther to the south in January. Hence the storefronts on the south side of the street are always in shade, as is the adjacent sidewalk. Conversely, the northern side of the street is always in direct sunlight (on sunny days, of course).

So when I approached the three, the below diagram shows the relationships.

(click to enlarge)

I know what you’re thinking that Bob should have been a professional draftsman with such skills. Pity. Anyway, I purposely approached them with the dark wall in front of me and the reflected sunlight at my back. As the reflected light is a large source (the length of buildings), the light is soft. Had it come from a flash unit, the source would have been pinpoint, and the light much more harsh.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

So, take a look at Mark. His right side is facing the bright north side of the street and is lighter than his left. Alex’s hair partly blocks the light, but her left cheek is brighter than the right. This direction of light adds dimension and contour to their faces. Now take a look at Hannah.

(click to enlarge)

She is looking directly at the reflected light, so both sides of her face have the same tonality. There is less facial contour. So-called flat lighting is safe, in that there is little chance of serious overexposure or underexposure on any part of the face. But flat lighting is considered a bit less exciting than directional lighting.

Have a good weekend.

Bob