ABSTRACT
The secret to quality photographic lighting is to use any light available—ambient, studio strobes, or any combination. Cameras control the amount of light striking the sensor in two ways, and control the ability of the sensor to record the level of light in a third way. The intensity of light allowed to reach the sensor is regulated by a series of overlapping metal plates in a lens that physically block some of the light. The expression that photographers use to describe the quandary of focus is "depth of field." Depth of field is ruled by laws of physics, or more precisely, laws of optics. Quality of light refers to the perceived softness or hardness. Hard light is strongly directional, and casts deep shadows that photographers sometimes struggle to control. The most challenging example of hard light for photographers is high noon on a sunny day, because it really does not offer attractive lighting to any subject.
