In Round One – Hard Light was handing out a beat down like it was Halloween candy, pushing softlight into the corner like a scared little kid. But my how fast things change in the world of light boxing. In Round Two Soft Light came out, flashed the crowd, and proceeded to bathe Hard Light with a pounding that would have made Rocky pee blood. So is it lights out for Hard Light?

Not so fast!

Soft Light threw a few punches in below the belt, so the judges gave them a third round. It was in the finesse of the third round that the true victor was revealed.

Round Three – The Combination Punch!

Whether you want to recreate light like you see in real life, or you want to go hyper real and design an image that screams, “Look Ma! I spent my college tuition on 20 sets of strobes! What’s the matter, Ma? Why you cryin’?” Chances are your image could benefit from the well thought out placement of both soft and hard lights. Yes, that’s right, a combination of the two.

Now, for a limited time – until the Sun goes supernova and obliterates all we have ever known, turning this big blue marble into a shiny silver pinball – you can become a true master of light, controlling how each and every photon lands on your viewer’s eye by combining hard and soft light in your photographs.

Want that soft, velvety light to roll over your model’s curves, dripping over her like maple syrup, smoothing out her shiny fur. (Get it? It’s a joke. I’m making it sound like a sexy model, and then I imply it’s a dog or cat or something. Oh, never mind!) But you still want that model to pop off of the back ground? Hit that creature with a nice, hard, rim light from the back and a nice big soft box up front. Presto. Dynamic lighting. And that’s just the beginning!

The bell rings and the final round is over. Hard Light and Soft Light shake hands and then collapse in each others sweaty arms. They are, after all, brothers and friends. The ref comes out and declares them both winners. But the real winner is your audience if you take the time to think about what you want to say and then figure out what light techniques will help best communicate that idea.

Nice!

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