Thanks for your answers, @jamesstaddon! Ok, I had a feeling I got myself a bit confused there. 🙂 I actually hadn’t really learnt about all the different types of light until recently when I did the ‘iPhone Photography Course For Parents’ by Shultz Photo School that came with the photography bundle. They had a whole bunch of videos dedicated to light, where I got my eyes opened to all that!
So in those lighting situations (reflected or diffused), I like to position folks so that they are facing in a direction that the reflected or diffused light will fall on their face (instead of falling on their backs, putting their faces in shadow). Does that make sense?
Surely does! 🙂
And of course, this is all in context of getting flattering pictures. If you’re taking a picture of a villain, then, well, direct harsh light from below might actually be what you want. 🙂
Oh, LOL! 🙂 I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I get a chance to photograph a villain. 😉
The harder someone laughs, the more their eyes will naturally squint. So, get everyone laughing really hard. 🙂
Might have to pull out some jokes, then. 🙂
As for your other questions about the direction of light, are you familiar with the different emotions associated with the different angles of light?
Huh, hadn’t really thought about that before. Interesting.
I generally stick with backlighting or “loop lighting”, where the light source is slightly higher than eye level and about 45 degrees to the right or left of the camera.
I haven’t heard of loop lighting. Could you expand on that a bit more? Not sure I quite understand.
Amaury has a great article about how to make nice portraits without grimaces in direct sunlight…. https://photovideocreative.com/en/how-to-make-nice-photo-portrait-without-grimace-in-direct-sunlight/ I don’t think I’d ever thought of his idea!
Glad I’m not the only one with the problem! So, he’s basically just saying to use back-lighting, right?