Lighting: The Ins and Outs of Lighting in Various Forms of Media Principles of AAVTC Lighting: The Ins and Outs of Lighting in Various Forms of Media Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  Trade & Industrial Education

Introduction Lighting is an aspect of production that is common throughout many different mediums. Namely photography, video, and animation. A knowledge of lighting is required to create a specific mood or effect and to make sure the subject of your creation is visible in the way you want it to be seen. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  Trade & Industrial Education

Introduction Just as finding a subject can be challenging, so too is selecting the lighting that illuminates your subject(s) in the most effective manner. Training your eye to see/create dramatic light can take some self-training. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Types of Light Ambient light – Non-direct, soft lighting that comes from no direct source. Diffuse light – Light that has been spread out to cover a large area and has a neutral color. Hard light – This type of light comes directly from the source; it is not diffused. Natural light – Light that is not man-made. Artificial light – Light created by the use of a flash (not the sun). Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Why Learn Lighting? Oftentimes in photography or video, you will be in situations in which the lighting is less than ideal. Because of this, the use of artificial lighting is required to ensure that you get the best quality light in any situation without leaving it to chance. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Lighting Uses We’ll discuss the following: Key Light Fill Light Rim Light Hair Light In photography, video, and computer generated images, these lighting uses are all the same. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Working with Lighting In some situations, a single light source may be all that is required. In other situations, six or more lights may be needed to get the effect you are looking for. Whatever the situation, if you know what you are doing, getting the desired result will happen a lot faster. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Key Light The key light is always the MAIN LIGHT in your photograph. It has to be the brightest light. It casts the main shadows in your images and gives your subject volume. For these reasons, it is important that the key light always be placed off camera. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Fill Light The fill light illuminates shadows but has no direction. Ambient light is often used as a fill light because it fills in the shadows. A fill light should be very soft and very broad. You may add several to any given lighting setup, if needed. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

More on Fill Light The fill light is normally placed on the opposite side of the camera from the key. i.e., if the key is left of camera, the fill is right of camera. The fill light is normally set to half the power (or below) the key light. i.e., if the key is set to full power, the fill should be set to half power or lower. The fill light is always a lower height than the key. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Rim Light The rim light (sometimes called a back light) creates a bright line around the edge of the object to help visually separate the object from the background. The rim light provides separation and creates depth. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

More on the Rim Light There is no general consensus on just how bright a rim light should be. Depending upon the look you are going for, you may want a rim more powerful than your key. A rim light is set behind your subject and pointed towards the back of them. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Hair Light A hair light in a portrait setup adds dimension and drama to the image by accenting the shoulders and crown of the subject. The brightness of the hair light should never be the first thing you notice about a portrait. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

More on Hair Light A hair light is always placed above a subject’s head and pointed down…towards their hair. In terms of placement, a hair light doesn’t necessarily have to be directly above a subject, it can be in front of or behind your subject, but must be high enough to illuminate their hair. As a general rule, a hair light should be about 25% less powerful than your key. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Lighting Setups A lighting setup is a predetermined, proven arrangement of a set of lights in a manner that gives a certain type of look. You may choose want to use a certain lighting setup to achieve a specific mood or tone in your image, video, or animation. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Lighting Setups Let’s discuss the following lighting setups, why they’re important, the type of light they create, and how to go about creating them. We’ll discuss the following: Butterfly Lighting Three-Point Lighting Rembrandt Lighting Split Lighting Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Butterfly Lighting Butterfly lighting (also known as “paramount” lighting) is popular for the clean, poppy look it can give a subject. This lighting can be recognized by the strong light falling on the forehead and by the distinct shadow under the subject’s nose that looks like a butterfly. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Butterfly Lighting Example How can you tell that this photo has a butterfly lighting setup? Photo by Flickr Creative Commons user derricktakase Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

How to Setup Butterfly Lighting In any given butterfly lighting setup, the key light will be placed in front of and above the subject’s head and pointed down, towards them. The fill light will be half the power of the key and set below and in front of their face. A rim can be used, if needed, in the setup. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Three-Point Lighting Three-point lighting can be a simple starting-point for lighting just about any subject. We discussed functions served by key lights, fill lights, and back lights.  A three-point lighting setup uses all three of these lights. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Example of a Three-Point Lighting image Can you identify all three light sources? The sun is the rim. There is a flash camera right acting as the key. Ambient light reflected off of the grass is the fill. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  Trade & Industrial Education

How to Create a Three-Point Lighting Setup In any given three-point lighting setup, your key light will be to the left or right of the camera and setup to be the highest light. The fill light should be 60 degrees on the opposite side and set to about half (or lower) the power of they key and be lower. The rim light should be set somewhere behind your subject and be about as powerful as your fill. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Rembrandt Lighting The Rembrandt lighting technique is named after the Dutch painter Rembrandt, who often utilized the lighting setup in his paintings. It is ideal for creating lighting which looks natural and compelling by using a very small amount of equipment. Rembrandt lighting is characterized by the triangle opposite the subject’s nose on the less illuminated side of their face. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Example Image using Rembrandt Lighting What do you see in this image that lets you know it uses a Rembrandt lighting setup? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

How to Create a Rembrandt Lighting Setup Most Rembrandt lighting setups use a key light placed about 40-60 degrees from the subject. If more light is needed, a reflector (or small fill light) can be placed opposite the key. You can alter the size of the triangle on your subject’s face by moving around your key within the 40-60 range from your subject. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Split Lighting Split lighting is a popular lighting setup due to the sense of drama and mystery it can create in any given subject. For these reasons, it is very widely used in movies and animations but not as much in photography wherein you may want to see your subject’s entire face. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Split Lighting Example Notice how one side of the subject’s face is almost completely in shadows. Where was the key light placed in this photograph? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

How to Create a Split Lighting Setup To create a split lighting setup, you will need to place your key light 90 degrees to your subject (pointed right at the side of their head). The light should be placed at eye level to your subject. No other lights are used in a split lighting setup. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Lighting a Background When shooting subjects, you may want to illuminate your background so it will be completely white to make sure that your subject is the focal point of your image. Digitally, this is very easy and you just set up a white background. In photography and video, however, you will need to place lights that are pointed directly at your background to ensure that it is completely illuminated white. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission. 

Review There will often be situations in which you have to create your own lighting. There are many different types of lighting including key, rim, fill, and hair lights. There different types of lighting setups including three-point lighting, butterfly lighting, Rembrandt lighting, and split lighting. Lighting a background correctly is also important to create a desired effect. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.