Picture taking: lighting
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I understand how lighting affects photographs and can experiment with using light creatively
Key learning points
- Lighting is one of the most important elements in photography.
- Photography can be in a studio or outdoors, and a major difference between these two strands is the light source.
- The direction of light plays a big role in how an image looks and feels.
- Subject, composition and lighting in a photograph can have a big impact on the mood.
- In early photography, artists relied entirely on light, shadow, contrast, and tone.
Keywords
Lighting - how light illuminates the subject of a photograph
Light source - the source of light identified in a picture, including natural and artificial light
Mood - the feeling or atmosphere a photo creates.
Common misconception
Lighting is just a technical tool in photography.
Lighting has the power to transform a photograph, shaping its mood, tone, and clarity.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to reflect on how lighting feels, not just how it looks.
Equipment
Camera
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the words and definitions.
the art and practice of using light to create images
the hole through which light travels in a camera lens
the part of the camera that opens to allow light through the aperture
Q2.Which of the following settings can you use to control the amount of light that enters the camera lens?
Q3.Photography can be described as:
Q4.In the rule of thirds, you ...
Q5.The aperture control, or f-stop, is the part of the camera that adjusts the ...
Q6.Match the words with the definitions
balanced shapes or repeated patterns that look pleasing
show space and distance: foreground, middle, background
strong differences: light vs dark, big vs small, colour vs monochrome
To help you plan your 10 art and design lesson on: Picture taking: lighting, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 art and design lesson on: Picture taking: lighting, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 art and design lessons from the Photography unit, dive into the full secondary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.