3. The light falling upon a subject from a source is called INCIDENT LIGHT.
When incident light strikes an opaque surface or object it will change
direction; this change is called REFLECTION.
All surfaces vary in their
power to reflect light. When light strikes an object it is reflected in all
directions, according to the reflecting power of the object. Dark objects
reflect less light than light ones. If the surface is smooth, the reflected
light is said to be SPECULAR; however, if the surface is rough, the
reflected light is DIFFUSED (fig 1-6).
Figure 1-6.
Surface effect on light
4. Reflection is an important characteristic of light.
It is the reason
why our eyes can see objects and how a film acquires a latent image. Rays
of light that are reflected from the object and enter our eyes (or camera),
are registered on the retina (or film), and converted to a visual image by
the brain (fig 1-7).
Figure 1-7.
The eye of the camera
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