cgardner
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 p.1 #4 · hard light, high detail | |
Although the flash is direct the lighting here isn't what I would consider "hard" because hardness and softness are not a quality of light, but rather how the light makes objects appear. Here the way the light is hitting his face isn't making the face look chiseled and three-dimensional its simply cutting it in half.
The basic goal of and portrait is to create some emotional reaction in the mind of the viewer. So whether this lighting is effective or not could be gauged on whether people who view it react the way you intended. Poll 100 or 1,000 people asking comes to mind if you see a face half and you'll have a good idea how any particular style of lighting is perceived, but more often than not it will match the way you react when seeing someone depicted the same way.
There are some classic metaphors in art and splitting a face in half is one. It evokes the same duality as the ying/yang symbol, so in that sense it is a very strong visual statement conveying the message that there may be a side to this person which may not be apparent, a darker side. It would be a great way to light a portrait of a mystery author like Stephen King but not perhaps how you'd want to light the author of children's books.
You could put a catchlight in the eyes or not. Either way its neither good nor bad, it will simply convey a different mood. Here the lack of catchlights make him seem darker and more mysterious than if there were a twinkle in his eye. In fact if there wast too much of a catchlight the mixing of metaphors of the splitting of the face with the lighting pattern and the twinkle in the eyes would for me confuse the message I'm getting.
What's not working in any way for me here is the crop...
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