Many lamps are used with their placement meticulously controlled to avoid form-distorting overlapping effects. Furniture form is controlled not by lighting, but by careful placement to show perspective from the camera's point of view. Theatrical productions use specular lighting to direct our attention to specific areas of the stage. Exhaustive rehearsing is needed to place the actors in exactly the right spots. When performances contain continuous action, such as circuses and ice shows, the lighting technicians must rehearse constantly so they can follow the action.
Specular lighting can reveal texture on the most subtly irregular surface.
Two good examples are detectives reading information on a page under the one on which the information was written, and archeologists reading badly weathered stone inscriptions by skimming specular light across the surface or waiting for the sun at a precise time of day. Because diffuse light does not cast sharp shadows, precise light placement is not an overriding concern. Usually, the lights are fastened to the end of an arm on a light stand that is counterweighted with a sandbag. The stand is located behind the table. This set-up is so basic many pros leave it untouched for months.