Photographic lighting

Photographic lighting refers to how a light source, artificial or natural, illuminates the scene or subject that is photographed. Photographers can manipulate the positioning and the quality of a light source to create visual effects, potentially changing aspects of the photograph such as clarity, tone and saturation to create an accurate rendition of the scene.

Lighting determines exposure and can be used to create effects such as low-key and high-key lighting, both of which involve the contrast between darker and lighter elements in a scene. Lighting is especially important for monochrome photography, where there is limited to no color information, and exclusively includes the interplay of highlights and shadows.