What is Inverse Square Law of Light in Photography?
“What is Inverse Square Law in Photography?” is a common question asked by a lot of beginner photographers, especially those interested in studio photography.
In this video we will be learning about this concept by seeing different examples of what happens when you change the distance between the subject and the light source.
The main advantage of learning this law is that it will enable you to get different types of lighting styles and looks in your studio shots, just by using a single light.
Here is the video:
This video is from our Studio Photography for Beginners Course, which has 31 videos and 4 hours of content. You can access the full course via Udemy, using the link below:
Studio Photography for Beginners Course
Video Summary
This video explains the Inverse Square Law of Light in photography and how it impacts exposure, background color, and portrait depth through practical studio demonstrations.
Key Concepts & Takeaways:
- The Law Explained: The intensity of light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance ($1/d^2$). Doubling the distance from the light source reduces the intensity to one-fourth, not half [01:22].
- Light Fall-Off: This is the most practical aspect for photographers. Light drops off rapidly when a subject is close to the source [02:20]. Moving a subject away from the light makes the fall-off more gradual, resulting in more even lighting [03:44].
- Controlling Background Color:
- White Backdrop to Gray: Placing the subject very close to the light and far from the backdrop causes a massive light fall-off, turning a white background into dark gray [07:09].
- Even Exposure: Placing the subject further from the light and closer to the backdrop results in more uniform exposure, keeping the white background bright [08:13].
- Dramatic vs. Flat Lighting:
- Practical Tip: On average, placing your subject closer to the light creates more professional-looking portraits with better depth and control over the background [15:15].
