Welcome to Part II of the March/April combined tutorial! Yesterday, I wrote about front lighting and its’ characteristics; today, I’m going to write about side lighting – our assignment this month will have a bit of a twist, so read on!
Side lighting, as the name implies, refers to lighting that is directed towards your subject from either the right or left sides. It is more effective than front lighting for many situations in that it effectively uses shadows to reveal texture and depth in your photos.
Consider the following landscape:
Taken with Nikon D60 at f/5.6, 1/500 sec., ISO 360
One of my favourite barns that I’ve come across, this photo captures the texture of the wood panels and faded roof paint, while effectively casting the right side of the barn in shadow. The light source was the setting sun, hitting the left side of the barn. A bit of useless trivia – this photo was taken with me and my camera, hanging out the car window, driving up to Collingwood for a weekend getaway. Don’t worry – the camera strap was wrapped around my wrist about three times! Oh, and I was the passenger, not driver! 
Side lighting is not only useful in photographing older subjects, but it is equally capable of capturing children. In the following photo, the side lighting from our front window highlights my daughter’s fine flyaway hair, capturing what we referred to as her “crazy hair” effectively, preserving the memories:
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4, 1/250 sec., ISO 200
Side lighting can be effective in candid and sport photography as well. I snapped this photo of my son coming up for air, during warm ups at his Regionals meet. The pool had one entire wall made of windows, which made this photographer mama VERY happy! The fast shutter speed, combined with the lighting, captures the water sluicing off his face, and the water droplets as he came up.
Taken with Nikon D90 at f/5.6, 1/320 sec., ISO 640
As well, side lighting is crucial for striking black & white photography. Black & white photography uses a mixture of grey tones to capture your subject so lighting is particularly important because in my opinion, it is the effect of shadows on the subject that causes photos to become extraordinary.
With the event of digital photography, it doesn’t matter if your photos were shot in colour or black & white. PhotoShop and other photo processing software allows us to convert our photos, using actions or various features. So it is especially important to get the lighting correct for your photos, for you may decide later to convert them to black & white or sepia.
Look at the following photos of my daughter. In this first photo, Aili is laying on our bed, facing the patio doors. Frontal lighting provides great exposure and while the expression is adorable (okay, so I’m biased! ), it looks flat and two-dimensional.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/3.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 200
Because of the clashing of our deep red walls with her pink sleeper, I chose to convert this photo to black & white, using Adobe PhotoShop Creative Suite 4.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/3.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 200
Again, adorable (in my opinion!) and there are good catchlights in her eyes, but the overall appearance is flat and lacks depth.
Now, note the following photo. I carefully propped Aili up and turned her perpendicular to the doors. Sitting on the floor next to her (with one hand on her thigh!), I managed to capture this photo:
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 200
I love the depth in this photo, with the dark shadowing on the right, but still managing to capture the catchlights in her eyes, not to mention those chubby cheeks!
Now, because side lighting tends to produce these shadows, it is important to consider your subject. If an overall exposure is desired, you can lighten your shadows by using a reflector of some sort, to bounce the lighting towards the back of your subject.
In the following photo shoot, I asked the couple to stand in front of the window at a 45 degree angle. While the lighting on Mom-To-Be is effective, Dad is cast in her shadow a bit.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4, 1/60 sec., ISO 200
So I set up a large piece of white foam core to act as a reflector and bounce some of the side lighting onto Dad. This is what it look like:
Photo shoot set-up
We will be discussing reflectors and bouncing light in later tutorials, but it’s important to remember that light reflects OFF a surface at exactly the same angle at which it hits the reflective surface. So when setting up a reflector, remember to position it accordingly. You can usually see the reflected light on your subject so use your eyes as your guide.
This was the result of using a reflector:
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4, 1/60 sec., ISO 200
So I’ve discussed various effects of side lighting – now how do you get it? Well, it’s pretty straightforward – just position your subject so that your light source, whether it be natural light from a window, the sun or even headlights, strikes from the side. Consider your subject when choosing your camera settings. You can use your information gained from the previous tutorials or use your camera’s electronic analog exposure display (in your viewfinder display) to determine exposure and aperture. We will discuss the electronic exposure display more later on, but your camera’s manual should contain information on it, if it’s an available feature.
Now for the fun part!! I decided to combine the March and April tutorials for a couple of reasons. First, because of the technical changes, I am posting this tutorial later in the month, which leaves less time for your March submissions. And secondly, I think that combining the two tutorials will be an effective teaching aid in that it will allow you to photograph the same subject with two different lighting scenarios. What better way to see the effects of both!?
Your March/April assignment:
Using both March/April tutorials as a guide, photograph a subject with both FRONT and SIDE lighting. This may involve moving your subject, moving your feet, or photographing the same scenario at different times of the day. Then submit BOTH of your photos to me to be eligible for our draw. Remember, your photo will be of the same subject – but with different lighting directions! As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me.
Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, April 30th, 2010
Because you have to submit TWO photos, I’m giving you an extra month! Please submit your photo, using our submission form only, for a chance to be entered into our draw to win one of two prizes. Yep, you heard right!! We’re combining our tutorials but we’re going to have TWO winners! A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Don’t forget to include your camera used, along with your camera settings for BOTH photos in the Comments section of the submisson form!
Our March/April prize packs will be revealed shortly!
Happy Clicking!
Sue has been behind a camera for more than 25 years, working professionally as a photographer for the last ten years. While she began the hobby of scrapbooking in 2000, as a complement to her photographer career, it soon grew into a rival passion! Sue loves to enlarge one of her favourite photos and make it the focal point of her page, using her supplies to bring the focus onto her photography. She has, in recent years, turned more to scrapbooking "moments" rather than "events", choosing to leave her children more insight into her point of view of their lives.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the photo of your daughter… her hair, the princess crown and her fascination with her belly button!! Anxious to see everyone else’s photos!!
Allison Orthner
Awesome photos!
LOVE the b&w close-up of your little one. Love using side-lighting to get some beautiful photos. Thanks for showing these fantastic photos, Sue.
love the diagram for setting up a photo shoot!
this iswonderful and love the tips
love the belly button pic.
Lots of information here. Thanks. These tutorials are so helpful.
Another great post on lighting that will be useful to know!
Love all the pics!
Thank you for the diagram for a photo shoot setup!
Thank you for showing me how GREAT side lighting can be! Wow great photo of your baby!
HOPping by!
More great info, I need to get a reflector. Might hand make one like you suggested or try the car reflector thing. hhmmmmm
Great photos and tips.
Another fantastic article!
Love these pics and can’t wait to try the techniques myself
thanks for the diapgram… very helpful.. love your pictures.
Thanks for sharing your tips.
The diagram is so helpful
thanks for the diagram of how you set up that photo shoot. I love side lighting on children. so beautiful. I definately do not love it on me!
I love using side light in my photos…it sometimes gives a dramatic effect…thank you for the tutorial!
Gorgeous black and whites! Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for sharing all your great tips!!
Makes me want to take out my reflector and do a photo shoot
Thanks for the great tips and the photos that clearly show the difference side lighting can make!
Nice photos. Didn’t know there was side lightning. Good to know now.
I love how it leaves a shadow on the subjects face! thx
I love seeing the difference the side lighting makes. Thanks for sharing.
Learning so much! thanks
Great photos. Side lighting is the best! Seems to really brighten and enhance. The closeup of Aili is amazing..the glint in the eye…you captured it.
Sandra d.
I love taking these types of pictures!! Now I can do it on purpose!!
Another amazing tutorial Sue. The diagram helped to visualize what you were saying. Thanks so much!
great tutorial, I love the effects of side lighting…think I am going to love playing with my camera to try this!
Great tutorial … again! It’s almost 10 at night right now but I’m itching to try some of this out. Guess I know what the girls and I will be doing tomorrow!! =)
love all the photos! great tip tfs!
Great tips and what a sweet baby girl!!
Thanks for more great tips. The diagram was very helpful. Hopping to the next….
I remember reading this one when you originally posted it, Love the little girl in the crown!
Sue, you have amazing photographs on every tutorial and a wealth of information.
Great tutorial, thanks for sharing.
LOVE side lighting…especially as the sun sets!
Side lighting is great. Love the photo of the barn and the princess!
Wow – so much to practice – thanks!
Love the beautiful b&w photos of your daughter! My fav slushie would be cream soda!
Love the beautiful b&w photos of your daughter!
Great info! Definitely something to practice!
Great tips! Awesome pics!
I like the photos. Thanks for the diagram showing how you set up the photo shoot. I will give this a try.
Yet again, a very good example of why i need to learn to use a reflector. TFS!
This tutorial definitely made me look at pictures from different angles,
Love those photos.
I read this before and had a great photo shoot because of it. (Thanks) And, the belly button photo is precious
am going to try using the white foam core and the diagram was very helpful
Another good review for me.
great shots!! if only i can learn this !!
Thanks for inc luding the diagram on where you placed your reflector and subjects relative to the light source. very helpful.
Thanks for sharing.
great photos!!!!!
Great tips
These are great pics.Thanks for sharing the great tips and the chance to win.
Need to buy a reflector this week!!
Great tutorial – I see a great difference in my photos when I get the lighting right!
Great shots! Need to try this!
Love that diagram! Thanks for the helpful tips!!
I love this technique and will definitely use it!
love side light!!!
Great information, thank you
This was a very useful tutorial…I will have to try out these lighting techniques next time I take a few shots! Thanks!