Different types of lighting used in Photography
Side Lighting - Side lighting is when the lighting is coming from the side. This usually provides a lot of contrast, can create long shadows and also add depth to an image. This type of lighting can add dramatic flares to architectural and portrait photography.
example : http://wiki.blender.org/uploads/thumb/3/3c/5.3._03.png/600px-5.3._03.png
Back Lighting - Back lighting is when light is coming from behind the subject matter is directed at you and your camera. This type of lighting can create silhouettes very easily and combined with certain conditions such as fog or dust you can get dramatic lighting effects.
example : http://www.onstagelighting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/backlight.jpg
Rim Lighting - Rim lighting is when light comes in at an acute angle, it can create highlights along the edges of your subject matter. The contrast that it provides highlights shape and form. This type of lighting can add impact to wildlife, nature and sometimes fine art nude photography.
example : http://pdnedu.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/montreal.jpg
Ambient Lighting - Ambient light is a non direct soft lighting that is often bounced from one surface to another. This results in the brightness of your subject matter being lower than other types of lighting. Ambient light works well for a variety of photographic genres, particularly landscape photography.
example : http://a7.vox.com/6a00f48cdf6152000300e398e116270004-500pi
Soft Light - Soft light is diffuse providing some lighting that is even. This type of light reduces the contrast and also minimizes shadows. Soft light is useful for portraiture, macro and nature photography.
example : http://amanda.molesa.net/wp-content/gallery/JournalEntry2/2soft_light.jpg
Hard Light - Hard lighting is quite direct and means the brightness is often intense. Hard light creates strong shadows and high contrast. Highlights can be quite intense under hard lighting and special care should be taken with exposure. It can be applied to most photographic genres, but alot of photographers find it less appealing than other types of lighting.
example : http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1149/928340917_b5d39a1a40.jpg
Spotlight - Spot light, very simply, is when a focused amount of light highlights a particular section of your subject matter or scene. This lighting can create contrast and strong shadows, it can also add dramatic impact to all genres of photography.
example : http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2580489333_4de1d7b2b3.jpg
Artificial Light - The most obvious type of lighting is artificial light. This can be generated from built in flash, external flash or studio lights. There are few genres of photography that artificial lighting cannot be used succesfully in. Artificial lighting provides a lot of creativity and flexibility.
example : http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00S/00S3fC-104465784.jpg
