Hard light
For other examples:
Lars Tunbjörk p. 24
Philip-Lorca diCorcia p. 91
René Burri p. 93
Hard light comes from one direction and is typical of a spotlight or bright sunshine. Due to its intensity, one of the most common traits of hard light is high contrast.
Trent Parke is a photographer who uses this kind of light to transform urban landscapes into something less familiar. Here the hard light cuts through the city forming an island of light where a couple stand seemingly marooned. But they’re not without their supplies. Accompanying them
in the highlights is everything they need, from a place to stay and somewhere to eat in the form of a motel and a fast food restaurant.
Hard light causes anything in its path to become a highlight, while everything else remains dark.
You can use the contrasts created by hard light to abstract or simplify your composition. That’s exactly what’s going on here. The shadows form large areas of black, which mask unnecessary detail. This, in turn, causes our eyes to be drawn to the highlights.
The unevenness of hard light makes it tricky to work with, as you will lose detail somewhere. This is another situation where exposure compensation helps. Scroll towards the + to bring out detail in the shadows and to the – to bring out the detail in the highlights.
Heinley Street, Adelaide
Trent Parke
2006