In photography lighting is one of the most important aspects for a good photo. However there are many different types of lighting and lighting techniques which people use depending on the photo and environment. For example studio lighting is a main type of lighting which photographers use, another is natural lighting provided by natural things for example the sun.

There is also hard light and soft light:

As you can see the hard light has much harsher and darker lines in comparison to the soft light.

Lighting in photography can also be used to create powerful shadows and silhouettes as shown above.