DIY Network

Digital Photography: Softening Your Images Using filters, diffusers, reflectors and image software can give your portraits and candid photos a pleasingly subdued look. From "The Whole Picture" episode DTWP-207

	Overexposure and exaggerated shadows are two possible pitfalls of using direct flash.
	Soft light gives the subject a natural, pleasant look.

While we all do our best to take good pictures, sometimes in digital photography careful attention to a picture's composition and focus isn't enough.

With improper or careless use of lighting, pictures can come out with hard shadows that emphasize lines and angles you don't want to draw the viewer's attention to. These shadows can also obliterate details that are important--details you hoped would appear in your picture.

In this lesson from DIY's The Whole Picture, host Erin Manning shows how to use and manipulate light to "soften" digital photographs, giving your photos a more muted and subdued look.

Materials:

digital camera
owner's manual
petroleum jelly
panty hose
plastic wrap (kitchen variety)
photo filters
reflectors

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Harsh shadows created by the auto-flash can ruin what would otherwise be a great photo.

The Problem With Direct Flash

The combined effects of auto-focus, auto-flash and the digital intensification of contrast can result in pictures that are just plain unflattering, and ones that are likely destined to be deleted.

One of the most common sets of problems when shooting photos of people--whether it's portrait photography or candid shots--results from the use of direct flash. Though it's often the case that you need the flash on to get a shot, direct flash leaves a lot to be desired as far as pleasant lighting goes.

Your camera's built-in flash is an efficient producer of light, but the fresnel lens--which accounts for a flash's efficiency--approximates bright, direct sunlight, and that's not always the most flattering. And though the flash may be handy in low-light situations and for everyday snapshots, in many situations it can create a variety of undesirable results--including overexposure, harsh lighting, "garish" colors and overemphasized shadows that can obscure detail. For professional looking results, and ones that are likely to please your subject, you'll want to take a little more sophisticated approach.

Before you get started next time, turn off your auto-flash. This one important step will immediately reduce some of the harshness in your pictures. But with the flash turned off, and if the available light is not sufficient to get a good exposure, how do you light your subject? The answer may come in the form of more indirect lighting and the use of reflectors and diffusers to help you light your subjects softly.

	Proper lighting highlights detail while providing more pleasing results.
	Use a bounce card to reflect light towards your subject's face.
	You can also diffuse light by holding up a pillowcase in front of your key light.

Bouncing Light To Soften Images

When you're working with soft lighting, the first thing to do is turn off your flash and set the camera in automatic.

The first principle of soft lighting is the position of your light source. Start by setting up a stand to clip your main light or "key" light as it's known professionally. You can use a ladder or a coat rack or even the edge of a book case.

An inexpensive yet effective light is a simple open faced utility light you can buy at any hardware store with a 50 watt bulb. You want to position your key light a little high and slightly to the side of your subject.

To create soft light using bounced light, turn your open faced light away from your subject and use a piece of white poster board to bounce, or reflect the light back onto your subject's face. Hold the poster board in front of the light and remember to hold it at least 8" from the light for safety.

You can use another light stand or ladder to clamp your bounce card to--or, if you've got an assistant, you can just hold the card. Move the bounce card in and away from the key light finding the right distance that creates the best level of light on your subject. Experiment with rotating the bounce card slightly to vary the angle the light hits your subject.

Set your exposure by zooming in on the brightest highlight on your subject, then pull out to the desired framing.

Light diffusion is another way of softening your image. You just need a heat safe, semi-transparent material between your subject and a light. It could be a piece of tissue paper or even a pillowcase.

For this soft light method, turn the open faced key light back toward your subject, again positioning the light slightly to the side and above their eye line.

Then hold the material between the key light and your subject to diffuse the light source. A simple white pillowcase can create quite a soft look. Make sure the pillowcase isn't touching the light--you don't want to start a fire.

For a slightly different look-- a little warmer and a little less diffused--you can do the same thing with tissue paper. Hold the tissue paper between your light and your subject. Again, direct the light through this diffusion toward your subject.

A professional method for working with soft lighting is called a soft box and you can buy one at most photography stores or on line. Soft boxes take a small direct light source and expand it to the dimensions of the box. By creating a larger light source, your subject is illuminated with more gradual transitions from highlight to shadow making the picture softer and more pleasing.

Position your soft box so that the inside edge lines up with the edge of your subject's face. It may seem like you're wasting the outer half of the soft box's light, but actually you're allowing the light to wrap around your subject and fill in some of the shadows on the opposite side.

Some soft boxes have a dial on the back that allows you to vary the amount of light coming from the bulb for even more control.

Light diffusion is one way of softening your pictures and achieving even exposure.

Diffusion can be achieved through various means and give varying results.

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