Good Light is hard to define as it depends on the effect and end result you want, however good light is generally light which is enough light to prevent you from going to high with ISO numbers, and personally I would say reflected light, meaning it is softer and would create a larger dynamic range from dark to light. If the dynamic range is higher, you can always adjust in post processing to add more “depth” to the final result. The colour of the light or reflected light also matter hugely, as this will result in a more natural accurate end result as well.

One of the many factors defining a personal style is how they use light to create the unique look, which matters as this sets your result apart from everyone doing the same thing.

In my opinion, good light is desirable, but what you’re actually looking for is good shadows, which are its direct consequence.

Depending on what you’re shooting, you might look for long, hard shadows, or soft and blurred ones, or even no shadows at all.

Depending on this, you’ll learn to identify the kind of light you need to get the desired results.

Good light is subjective, as is it’s appreciation.

For me I like certain types of light for certain types of subjects. Take sunlight for example. Generally my rule of thumb with sunlight is that the closer it is to the horizon the better the quality of light, especially in regard to portraits or landscapes.

If I was to shoot a portrait of a person in the middle of summer in the sunshine at midday day, that in my opinion would be poor light for the subject. The high angle of the light would cast shadows under the nose and the chin and the cheeks and the eye sockets. Terrible light.

On the other hand if they were standing under a tree the light would be so much softer on their face and would reveal their features in a much more flattering way. Better still, if I were to photograph them at sundown where the light is horizontal or just after sundown where the light is particularly soft that would be nice flattering light in my opinion.

Light can be soft and cast graduated shadows on the subject or it can be hard and cast very sharp shadows. Soft light comes from a broad light source, like an overcast sky or light filtering in to a room through a window. Haed light is cast from a small light source, by direct Sun or a spotlight or direct flash.

So a broad light source is soft, a point light source is hard. That is the quality of the light. Not to be confused with the quantity of light.

To get a feel for it try this: Create hard (point source) or soft (broard source) light and use it to illuminate a subject to see the result. Light stuff from the top or the front or the sides. See what it does. If you can’t create the light find it and do the same thing.

I hope this is helpful. I could add so much more. If you have any questions or need clarity feel free to ask.

https://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/lighting.htm

Make it.

This was the featured snipped when I Google searched “how to spot good light”: https://photographyconcentrate.com/the-simple-trick-to-finding-the-best-light/

More results: https://theyoungrens.com/photographers/shooting-workflow/find-natural-light/ and https://digital-photography-school.com/good-light-create-beautiful-portraits/

They’re mostly oriented for generally flattering portraits.

What other ‘basics’ of photography material have you read/watched?

Practice :) you learn to see light as you go. I did a YouTube video recently that talks about how we can improve our photography, one of the point is simply practicing black and white that really can help you learn to see light and shadows.

Take a look at some of the photos you like.

Start asking yourself questions about the lighting scenarios in those.

If you’re having a hard time figuring them out, paste them here and we’ll help.

I guess it depends on the kind of photography and the effect you want to achieve. If you do studio/object/portrait photography, you’ll probably look for different conditions/set-ups than when you’re a street or landscape photographer.

It’s about light & shadows, colours. For example, if you photograph a city in the middle of the day on a sunny day, your shots will come out with bright colours and high contrast. Go on a grey, but clear day, and the contrast will be less pronounced, the colours duller. Go out early in the day or late at night, when the sun is just starting to rise or set, during golden hour or magic hour, and the lights and colours are completely different, have a more ephemeral quality.

If you’re interested in landscape photography, for example, the best times are usually those: the early and late hours, the sunset and sunrise hours. It gives the landscape a more mysterious aura. If that’s the effect you want to achieve, at least.

A good exercise might be to go to the same spot on different times to photograph the same scene. Early in the day, or at night, during magic/blue/golden hour, when it’s raining, or just overcast, in the middle of the day when the sun is shining bright… You’ll get a feel of how the light changes, how it affects your photos and what you like best.

if you are into portrait photography you don’t look for it you simply create it with a flash, reflector or diffuser … are you going to ask you client to wait 3 hours for the right light or ask them to walk hours to find the perfect spot ? for landscape/architecture a very good tripod and some nd/cpl filter is the way to go with some general knowledge of long exposure photography

It comes with time and practice. Once you figure out your niche and style you look for the light and gravitate towards it. But it’s good to be diversified and skilled in all lighting scenarios.

I’ve been in the photography world professionally for a long time (13 years) and I know when and where good light is, I can look out a window of a car and see it, but this changes with seasons, weather, location, other factors. Since I professionally photograph weddings and portraits I tend to look for shade but not too much. My favorite is trees with light coming from behind the subject. Things like where your subject is standing can include the colors related back onto them. But if light isn’t preferable I know what to do to make up for it as much as possible.

You can’t have perfect light every time you go out and shoot. Sometimes your eye is caught by something and you try it out. Photography is about experimenting!

Golden hour morning or evening.

A lot of people do group portraits in dappled lighting, and it looks terrible since some people are in shadow and others are in full light, and usually the exposure is too high so highlights are blown.

Here is a funny example of someone who tried to recover blown highlights:

https://www.reddit.com/r/badphotoshop/s/aalrZmUHY1

It’s really common for beginners to point their cameras into the sun when doing portraits, and so either the subject becomes a silhouette or the background is blown: it’s usually better to have the sun over your shoulder behind you, but without the subject looking directly at the sun.