Fundamentals of Portrait Lighting The success of a portrait is equally dependent on lighting as on the pose of the subject. The manner in how the subject is lighted can actually set the mood of a portrait. The best portrait lighting will simulate natural sunlight. This is because we are accustomed to seeing faces illuminated from above and to one side with shadows cast downward and on one side or the other. Light coming from below eye level casts shadows upward and produces an unnatural, ghastly effect. Good portrait lighting shows off the subject to the best advantage, emphasizing the form and expressiveness of the facial features. When lighting appears pleasing and natural in a portrait, it produces prominent highlights on the forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin with enough shadows to round out the facial features. Lighting for a studio portrait normally requires at least two lights. One of these is the main, modeling, or key light; the other is the fill or fill-in light. Portrait lighting is divided into various types called lightings. Some of these lightings are as follows: broad, short, butterfly, Rembrandt, split, and rim. These names have been assigned because of the visual effects the lighting creates when it falls on the subject from a given direction. This visual effect is derived from the modeling or key light. Other light sources that may be added to the modeling light to enhance the subject are as follows: • Broad lighting – The main light completely illuminates the side of the face turned toward the camera. • Short lighting – The main light completely illuminates the side of the face turned away from the camera. • Butterfly lighting – The main light is placed directly in front of the face and casts a shadow directly under the nose. • Rembrandt lighting – This is a combination of short and butterfly lighting. The main light is placed high and to the side of the face turned away from the camera and produces a triangle of light on the side of the face in shadow. • Split lighting – The modeling light is placed to light completely one side of the face while placing the other side of the face in shadow. • Rim lighting – The modeling light is placed behind the subject and places the entire face in shadow. Main Light The main light, as mentioned above, is also known as the modeling light because it is used to model the face (or subject). The main light creates a three-dimensional effect by either emphasizing or de- emphasizing the curvature and characteristic features of the face with highlights and shadows. The modeling light should always be the one dominant light source in a portrait because it controls the direction of the shadows. The direction of the main light establishes four basic portrait lighting–three-quarter lighting, sidelighting, frontlighting and backlighting. When reading other books on portrait lighting, you will often encounter other names depending on what the author wanted to call the lightings. You, as an a student in my class, will mostly be concerned with three-quarter (broad and short) and frontlighting (butterfly lighting). As photographers, we also designate each of our lightings as high, medium, and low for vertical position. To go further, we designate the lighting as right or left of the subject. These lighting positions change with each subject. When setting portrait lights, you should always study the effect and view the subject from the camera position, preferably through the viewfinder.
Three-Quarter Lighting Broad and short lighting are two types of threequarter lighting, and they are the types that you most often use for portraits. The only difference between the two is the position of the main light and the way it illuminates the subject. Short lighting is used for people with a normalshaped face or people who have a wide face. When short lighting is used, the side of the subject’s face that is away from the camera is illuminated. This puts the side of the face toward the camera in shadow. By putting the side of the face toward the camera in shadow, you can provide a slimming effect. Broad lighting is useful for subjects with a narrow face. When broad lighting is used, the side of the face toward the camera is illuminated, and the side of the face away from the camera is in shadow. This provides a widening or broadening effect of the face. Flexibility of Three-Quarter Lighting Three-quarter lighting can be used with almost any type of face. It is flexible because once it is set, the subject can move his head from full face to profile and the lighting remains good at any point you choose to pose the sitter. The degree of flexibility is determined by the type of light used (spot or flood) and the size and type of reflector used.
Main Light Distance The power or intensity of the main light is not the determining factor for the distance the main light is placed from the subject. It is the visual effect the light has on the subject that determines this distance. When the main light is too high and close to the subject, there may be too much light falling on the forehead and not enough light falling on the lower part of the face. This effect can be improved by moving the main light farther away from the subject and placing it correctly. Highlights on the forehead, the upper cheeks, the chin, and along the bridge of the nose are created by the main light. These highlights give life, brilliance, and form to a portrait, and the quality of these highlights is controlled by the main light distance. To determine the main light distance, start with the light about 4 feet from the subject and about 2 feet above the subject’s eye level. The light should be about a 45-degree angle to the lens axis. Observe the forehead highlight and move the light closer to the subject. As the light gets closer to the forehead, highlights spread out to a large, flat area and begin to wash out. Now, start moving the main light away from the subject. As you slowly move it back, you will find there is a point where the forehead highlight becomes relatively small and bright. When the light is moved back much further from this point, the highlight spreads and disappears. Between the point where the highlight is brightest and where it starts to disappear lies the range where the highlight still has character. This point is where you get the most pleasing effect. Once you have found the distance where the main light gives your desired effect, the distance should remain the same regardless of the direction you need to move the light. This main light distance should always be considered as the starting point of portrait lighting.
Main Light Height To determine the correct height for the main light, move the light directly in front of the subject while maintaining the distance determined for the forehead highlight. Raise or lower the light until the shadow cast by the nose is just long enough to touch the top edge of the upper lip. This is the height the main light should normally be no matter at what position you place it in an arc around the subject. When your subject is wearing a hat with a visor, the visor shadow should fall naturally across the face. Many photographers think the shadow cast by the visor should not shade the eyes. The shadow from the visor should shade the eyes. However, in a portrait, this shadow should not be so dark that shadow detail is lost, and the eyes are hard to see. To prevent this shadow from being too dark, raise the main light to the desired height, and instead of aiming it down at an angle, aim it straight. This way, the light is cast under the visor and prevents the shadow from becoming too dark.
Main Light Direction By the time you have determined the main light distance and the height for a given subject, you should have a fair idea of the direction of light from the main light. To establish the direction from which this light should come, move the main light in an arc, to the right or left, around the subject. Remember, while moving the main light, its established distance and height should be maintained. The shadow cast by the subject’s nose is your key to main light direction. The light should be moved around until the shadow cast by the nose merges with the cheek shadow and leaves a small, triangular highlight on the cheek. When this is done, the main light is in position. Remember, the main light must always be the dominant, directional, shadow-pattern forming light.
Fill-In Light Once the main light has been established, the fill or fill-in light is added. This fill light is a secondary light and must not overpower the main light. Its purpose is to fill in and soften the shadow areas, making them lighter, and to provide shadow detail. The fill light is placed slightly above the subject’s eye level, on the opposite side of the camera from the main light and near the camera lens axis. The fill-in light should be less intense than the main light and of softer quality. This light is often diffused even when the main light is not. By placing the fill light slightly above the subject’s eye level, you can cast a shadow under the chin. This shadow separates the head from the neck. The chin shadow should be soft and unpronounced. The intensity of the fill-in light can be controlled by either adjusting the power setting of an electronic studio light set or adjusting the light-tosubject distance. The fill light can be moved in an arc to the side of the subject and away from the camera. The fill light must not produce conflicting shadows (shadows that point toward the main light).
Catch Light A catch light provides a small, bright reflection of the main light in the eyes of the subject. It adds life and brilliance to a portrait and gives the eyes sparkle. There should be only one catch light in each eye, and it should be high in the iris of the eye. For broad lighting, the catch light should be approximately in the 11 o’clock position. The main light for short lighting should create a catch light at approximately the 1 o’clock position. The lighting ratio for portraits should usually be about 3:1; 4:1 is maximum for good color portraits.
Background Light The third light in studio portrait lighting is the background light. A background light is usually placed on a low stand midway between the background and the subject. When adjusted correctly, the background light provides good tonal separation between subject and background. The intensity of the light falling on the background should not normally be greater than the intensity of the light from the main light falling on the subject’s face. By increasing or decreasing the intensity of the light on the background, you can control the tone or color reproduction of the background in the finished print. To reproduce the background color to its “true” color in a color print, it must receive the same amount of light as the subject’s face. When the backgrounds vary in color, the roster board does not appear uniform, and the attention of the viewer is distracted. When a background light is used, it is wise to position it before setting up any other light. It is easier to determine its effect without the interference of the main and fill light. The background light should be positioned so the brightest area of the light illuminates the background directly behind the head and gradually falls off into the corners of the frame. When the background light is set in this manner, it separates the head from the body and draws the viewer’s attention to the subject’s face.
Hair Light Once the main, fill-in, and background lights are in their established locations, additional lights may be added to the setup to further in enhance the portrait. One such light is a hair light. A hair light is usually a small lighting unit placed on a boom so it shines down from above and behind the subject. It is used to lighten the hair (or hat) and shoulders, add detail to the hair, and separate the subject from the background, presenting the illusion of a third dimension. The intensity of the hair light varies with the subject since it is dictated not only by the color of the person’s hair (or hat) but also by the amount of sheen the hair has. The hair light is usually placed on the side of the subject opposite the main light and behind the subject. It should be used from an angle about 6 to 8 feet high and from a position close to the center of the subject area without the light stand or boom showing in the picture. Light from this unit should not be allowed to spill over onto the forehead or tip of the nose. The hair light normally has a snoot attached so light from it does not strike the camera lens. Be sure the hair light is turned off when making any exposure readings. This light does not affect your exposure, but it could influence your meter.
Sidelighting With sidelighting, the face is lit more intensely on one side than the other. This type of lighting is well suited for young women who have smooth skin and regular facial features, or for men whose rugged character lines should be emphasized.
Butterfly Lighting Butterfly lighting is often used when making portraits of women. To start, you can place the main light very close to the camera lens axis at about the subject’s eye level. This creates a flat lighting, and facial feature characteristics can be lost. By moving the main light higher, you can create a certain amount of modeling that is still very flattering and almost foolproof. This lighting is flattering because it does not emphasize lines or crow’s feet around the eyes, wrinkles on the forehead, or shadows around the mouth. It does, however, emphasize eyes and eyelashes, especially in females. The main light should be just high enough to cast a shadow of the nose about a third of the distance from the nose to the top edge of the upper lip.
Rim Lighting Rim lighting is often used when making profile portraits. Rim lighting is the same as backlighting, where the subject is lighted from behind, causing the facial features of the profile to be highlighted. In a profile portrait, when a person looks straight ahead, only the whites of the eyes are seen by the camera. This causes an undesirable effect. Instead, have the eyes cheat. Turn the eyes slightly toward the camera, without turning the head, to show enough of the iris so the eye can be seen as an eye, not a white ball. Have the subject’s head tipped back slightly. This separates the chin from the far shoulder, gives a better neckline, and reduces the appearance of a double chin. Allow more space on the side of the picture toward which the eyes are looking. This allows the subject to “look” beyond the frame.
Tenting Photographing small products can be quite difficult if they include bright reflective surfaces. You can easily see other nearby objects reflected in them and sometimes even the whole studio. Also, light from the lighting units may reflect off the surface very strongly at a particular point. These reflections can create an unwanted bright highlight. There are two ways to get around these problems. First, you can use many lights and add reflectors to make sure the lighting is even. This method may solve the problem of light from the lighting units reflecting off the subject surface, but unfortunately there are two great disadvantages: it requires more lights than most photo labs have, and you still have reflections. The other way to solve the problem is to use the tenting technique. The tent consists of a frame covered by a translucent white material that casts a diffused illumination on the subject. The lights are placed outside the tent and directed onto the translucent material. The color of the background, which is placed inside the tent with the subject, depends on the subject and the effect desired. Strips of black or colored paper taped to the inside of the tent add the necessary dark accents or “bring to life” a colorless object.
Now that you have read the Fundamentals of Portrait Lighting it is time to test your new found knowledge as you create four example of the more popular portrait lighting styles use today. For this assignment you will create four (4) portraits of a fellow student while using the following lighting styles: • 1 portrait using Rembrandt lighting • 1 portrait using Butterfly lighting • 1 portrait using Side lighting • 1 portrait using Split lighting