Qualities of Artificial Light
The same properties are present in artificial light as in available natural light. The
direction of light and the amount of its diffusion can create a hard-edged light or a
soft and diffused light. Because you set up and arrange artificial lights, you need to
understand how to adjust and control them to produce the effect you want.
The bigger the light source relative to the subject, the softer the quality of the light.
The sun, although large, produces hard-edged, dark shadows because it is so far
away that it appears as a very small circle in the sky. Similarly, the farther back you
move a light, the smaller it will be relative to the subject and the harder the shadows
will appear. The closer you move the same light, the broader the light source
will be, the more its rays will strike the subject from different angles, and the softer
and more diffused its lighting will appear.
The more diffused the source, the softer the light. A spotlight focuses its light very
sharply on a subject producing bright highlights and very dark, hard-edged shadows.
A floodlight is a slightly wider source, but still one with relatively hard-edged