Photography, as anyone who can do a google search can tell you, literally means to "draw with light". If you understand this, and start to look at your subject with that in mind, you begin to understand why some photographs are stunning, and others are just okay.
There are more advanced concepts like Rembrandt lighting, etc, but the basic idea is to look at your subject for the light, and more importantly, the shadow. A shadow is what gives shape to an image.
Case in point: draw a vase and color it in, but only use one color and the same amount of pressure throughout the drawing. What does it look like? I'd put my money on it looking rather flat.
Now do the same thing, only before you start to draw, in your mind's eye, imagine how it would look if you had the sun shining through a window, falling on the same vase. Can you see the shadows, the way they bend around the shape of the vase?
As a photographer, I do a similar exercise before I set up for a shoot. I think about how the ambient lighting is going to fall on a subject, and then manipulate it in order to give it the definition and shape that I want. Sometimes I use a reflector, others I use studio lights, and other times I use a combination of them.
Depending on the type of shadows I am going for, I may use a harder light, or a softer light. I tend to prefer softer shadows because the overall feel isn't quite as startling, but a sharper shadow edge can really make a spectacular image.
Play with it!
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