Inside Photoshop® CS

Examining the Flaws in the Image

The man who took the picture shown in Figure 16.1 may have been thinking to himself that he was a great professional photographer. He used a lot of studio goodies: spots, reflecting plates, and so on. But unfortunately, he forgot the principles of lighting and portrait photography.

The photographer of this image neglected to correctly capture the lighting, and that's a basic flaw. What is a picture if it is not a play between light and shadow? With that “interplay,” we express our artistic intent and create atmosphere.

In portrait photography, the basic rule is that, to achieve the most flattering images of folks, you should light men from the side and light women and children from the front. Though this rule ...