ENDA Episode 95→ The time when ENDA shares why lighting matters (Part 6)

At last, we arrive at the second kind of light: 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, or as others like to call it, 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. This is the light that strikes the surface where the object is placed, picks up a hint of its color, then bounces into the object’s form shadow, softening the darkness with that borrowed hue.

Why does this matter?

Bounce light keeps shadow regions from looking like empty, lifeless voids. A slight tint in the darkness tells the eye that the object truly shares space with its surroundings—integrated, not pasted in.

Look at the GIF below: the metal hands capture a gentle red glow, first from the floor, later from the tabletop. That subtle spill of color sells the scene more convincingly than direct light and highlights alone. We’re not just seeing how light hits the metal; we’re seeing how the entire environment breathes onto it.

So far, we’ve explored how direct light and its highlights reveal the object’s material and lighting interaction, how form shadows describe that volume’s depth, how cast and contact shadows anchor objects to the ground, and now how reflected light stitches everything together with subtle environmental color. Theory, however, can only take us so far.

Next, we’ll put these concepts to work with real‑world comps and watch how each ingredient brings an image to life.

So… stay tuned!

The journey continues…