Learn how lighting works and functions
When it comes to lighting, there are three basic components you need to understand: Direction of lighting, the Object’s Surface, and corresponding Shadows. They determine the final look of your subject matter and it’s essential that you portray them as accurately as possible. To practice, we will look at a few fun examples and see if you can recognize where each object is lit from by trying to identify its light source.
The most commonly used lighting scenario for you subject matter is a three-point lighting system: the components are a Key light, Fill light (also known as Global light) and Rim light. They each have a different role and we examine them one by one and look at a few examples.
An interesting property of light is that it travels in every direction and bounces off of surfaces, losing some of its strength in the process. It can even pick up color hues! This may sound very technical, but a few simple examples will help you understand how this works. An inseparable component of light and color is value. You will understand this relationship as we go through the step-by-step process of building values with examples for each type, from neutral base value to bounce lighting and shadows.
