Lighting Styles - Soft Light

Soft Light


Light that tends to "wrap" around objects, casting diffuse shadows with soft edges. Soft light is when a light source is large relative to the subject, hard light is when the light source is small relative to the subject.
This depends mostly on the following two factors:

• Distance. The closer the light source, the softer it becomes.
• Size of light source. The larger the source, the softer it becomes.

The softness of a light source can also be determined by the angle between the illuminated object and the 'length' of the light source (the longest dimension that is perpendicular to the object being lit). The larger this angle is, the softer the light source.

Soft light use is popular in cinematography and film.

• Cast shadow-less light.
• Fill lighting. Soft light can reduce shadows without creating additional shadows.
• Make a subject appear more beautiful or youthful through making wrinkles less visible.
• Supplement the lighting from practicals. This technique is used to perform "motivated" lighting, where all light in the scene appears to come from practical light sources in the scene. Soft light does not cast shadows that would be a giveaway of a supplementary light source.

Examples of Soft Light Sources:

Bounce or Diffused Light
This is where you point your Hard Light source such as a Fresnel at a white or light coloured surface. The light will bounce off this surface and the resulting light will be softer. Depending on the size of the surface the softer the light will be. A good example is bouncing off a wall or ceiling, but for more control try the white side of a reflector or large piece of card.

You can also point your Hard Light source through a translucent surface. Such as a diffusion panel, diffusion gel, muslin, or thin white sheet. Remember the larger the surface area of the light the softer it is. So a 2ft x 2ft white board will not be as soft as a 6ft x 6ft board or wall.

For Even softer light use a combination of Bounce and Diffused light by creating a book light. This is where you bounce the light from one surface through some diffusion material.

Book Light


LED Lighting
Some LED Lighting that uses hundreds of little LEDs will give a soft light source. This is because the surface area is increased by spreading the bulbs out. This does not apply to single higher wattage LED bulbs.

Fluorescent
Just like the fluorescents you get in your house or office. These can be long tubes or circular in shape. Because of their larger surface area, a softer light is produced.


Cloudy Sky
The sun is a hard light source but when it is diffused by cloud is has the same effect as pointing a hard light source through a diffusion panel. The thicker the cloud cover the softer the light.