The two main characteristics of light are its direction and its 'quality'. Broadly, light can strike the subject from the front (frontal lighting), from the side (sidelighting) or from the back (backlighting). The 'quality' of the light is, for want of a better word, it's 'hardness'. A small light source like the sun or a naked light bulb produces very hard light which produces hard-edged shadows and has a very clear direction. Softer light, such as that you might get from a window, still has a clear direction, but produces much softer-edge shadows which are hardly shadows at all, more shaded areas. The softest light, such as that produced by an overcast sky, casts no shadows and doesn't have a clear direction either. This is an example of strong sidelighting. The small light source (the sun) has produced strong, hard-edge shadows and the direction (from the side) is perfect for bringing out the texture of the stone wall nearest the camera.
Sidelighting
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Lighting
The two main characteristics of light are its direction and its 'quality'. Broadly, light can strike the subject from the front (frontal lighting), from the side (sidelighting) or from the back (backlighting). The 'quality' of the light is, for want of a better word, it's 'hardness'. A small light source like the sun or a naked light bulb produces very hard light which produces hard-edged shadows and has a very clear direction. Softer light, such as that you might get from a window, still has a clear direction, but produces much softer-edge shadows which are hardly shadows at all, more shaded areas. The softest light, such as that produced by an overcast sky, casts no shadows and doesn't have a clear direction either. This is an example of strong sidelighting. The small light source (the sun) has produced strong, hard-edge shadows and the direction (from the side) is perfect for bringing out the texture of the stone wall nearest the camera.