Studio Lighting Tips Monday, November 7th Students will be able to set up basic studio lighting for a portrait session.

How many light sources does the earth have? If you said “One” meaning the sun; you were almost right. There is also the sky and the ground to “bounce” that light into the shadows. Light that is bounced back is commonly referred to as a “fill light”. If there was no fill light on earth; anything not directly lit by the sun, would have NO DETAIL, it would all be totally black.

Short Light the type of studio lighting setup, where the face side of the subject which is the farthest from the camera gets the main light. In this type of lighting setup, the side of the face which is toward the camera gets less light then the side facing away form the camera. The effect you get when using this lighting setup is a thin face, this is why it is good to photograph large people with a short light setup. A photo tip worth remembering is: short light helps to visually thin your subject.

Broad Light the opposite of Short light. In the Broad Light setup, the side that is getting the most light is the side facing the camera. This setup is less commonly used for portraits as it tends to make people look larger than they are. In both these cases, you can place a reflector (large white surface) on the opposite side of the light (at about a 45 degree angle) to help fill in the shadow side.

Split Light Position your main light on one side of your subject so that it’s exactly 90 degrees to the subject. In other words, you will see a dramatic shadow going right down to the middle of his or her face. If your main light is a flash, you might want to consider a secondary light; not for exposure... but just for light placement. This is a small secondary light. The model should be looking directly at the camera. This is what we call a split light portrait.

Rembrandt Light The main light is positioned high and on the side of the face that is away from the camera. Generally the subject is placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera (as opposed to just looking straight on.) This technique produces an illuminated triangle on the cheek closest to the camera. The triangle will illuminate just under the eye and not below the nose. The face should appear illuminated on one side and heavily shadowed on the other.

Butterfly Light achieved by positioning the main light directly in front of the subjects face and adjusting the height to create a shadow directly under, and in line with the nose. This style is best suited for subjects with a normal oval face and is considered to be a glamour style of lighting best suited for women. This lighting technique creates hard shadows in the eye sockets and under the chin depending on the size of your main light and distance to your subject. Use a reflector under the main light source to fill in the underside of the face (eye sockets, under nose and under chin areas). Sometimes this is referred to as “over and under lighting”.