Kate Hopewell-Smith
Kate has run her photography business since 2010 (www.katehopewellsmith.com) and along with her cinematographer husband, Brent, represents Sony as a European Imaging Ambassador and Rotolight as a Master of Light. Together, Kate and Brent are directors of wedding brand, byLumiere (www.bylumiere.co.uk), commercial content brand, Create (www.createhub.uk), and MUSE, a luxury boudoir business, www.museboudoir.co.uk
Many years ago, I discovered the importance of the direction of light and its relationship to photography. Understanding that there are essentially three directions, each requiring a different approach to exposure, immediately had a fundamental and long-lasting impact on my work and my confidence. At its simplest you can categorise light into frontal, side, and backlighting. Each direction of light has a very different effect on the form of the subject – largely due to whether shadows are present and where they fall. I try to deliver all three directions of light on every shoot whether I am working indoors or outdoors. Taking this approach helps me to focus and make decisions with confidence and with speed.
It is important to recognise that when you work on location it can be much harder to control the light than
