Compose for the light
It’s not just the light, but how you combine it with the basics of composition and framing that make the difference
Light in a composition needs to make sense. If you’re framing a photograph or deliberating over alternative compositions, where you place the subject, the angle of view, what’s in the background – light has a fundamental impact on your decisions.
For instance, the same light on both the subject and the background can be rather boring because there is no difference, no contrast between the two. This is one reason why front lighting has its limitations.
Compare this with sidelighting, for example, where subtle changes in the angle of your subject or background to the light can create contrasts of tonality that lift your subject from its environment. This can be compositional gold! So while both the subject and background might be lit by the same light source, it’s how they are angled to the light that makes the difference.
Using lights in a studio environment is very different to shooting outdoors with ambient light. In a studio, we can introduce multiple light sources and qualities in a single frame. Sometimes we can do this outdoors by introducing flash and reflectors, but often it’s a matter of waiting for the right weather or time of day.
It is this understanding of light and how it impacts our photographs that will help us produce stronger compositions. We may choose to change the lighting setup in a studio, or return to a location on another day to capture the landscape.
We all recognise photos with great lighting when we see them, the trick is to train ourselves to look for these different types of light and observe how they impact on our subject – and the composition of our photograph as a whole.
When discussing composition, we usually refer to devices like framing, ratios, rule of thirds, repetition, balance, contrast, colour and tonal control. All of these are to some extent affected by our choice of light – or the light we are presented with, because often we have no choice but to use what is there.
However, it is light that allows us to highlight a centre of interest, to subdue a background or to ensure we can see the repetition of shapes. It needs to become a fundamental part of our seeing, framing and composition.
“Light allows us
to highlight a centre of interest”