Use three-dimensional sidelighting

Make your photographic compositions more three-dimensional by using light and shade

The key to three dimensions in a photo is shadow. Without shadow, it’s hard to assess the shape and texture of a subject, whether it is flat or round, smooth or bumpy. This is why front lighting is considered rather boring – it doesn’t have to be, of course, but it certainly hides the three-dimensionality of our subjects.

Sidelighting creates shadows. So does front lighting, but we can’t see them because they are thrown behind the subject. With sidelighting we can clearly see the subject, its shadow and, most importantly, the transition from highlight to shadow, which is where we find all the wonderful textural information.

And this texture can be a key component of a strong composition.

For portraiture, photographers will use light across the face to create depth. It’s not normally 90-degree sidelighting because the shadows falling across the face become too long and too harsh (but of course, this also depends on the quality of the light). In addition to positioning your subject within the frame, the trick to strong compositions is to watch how the light falls across the face and angle either the light or your subject to produce the most pleasing result.

A large light source, like a softbox or window, produces soft shadows – the transition from highlight to shadow is very gradual. Change the light to something smaller and stronger, like a bare flash bulb or the sun, and the light becomes contrasty and the shadow lines are very abrupt. This quality of light is fundamental to the mood of our compositions.

It is also usual to have our subject face the light, but there can be times where having the subject in shadow actually works remarkably well – it’s just another compositional decision we have to make.

In the landscape, we have less control over the light, so we are left to move our subject or our cameras to find the best light. Sometime this isn’t the best angle, so maybe our alternative is to generate a degree of sidelighting in post-production.

“With sidelighting, we can clearly see the subject, its shadow and, most importantly,

the transition from highlight to shadow”

Left ADD SHAPE Adding some sidelighting helps to give shape to your subject, while post-production can then be used to return detail to shadow areas, giving us many more compositional options when it comes to framing the subject

Below EARLY AND LATE Early morning and late afternoons are favourite times because, if you point your camera across the light, the sun produces detailed and textured results. Use the shadows as integral elements of your composition