Portrait lighting, one light, part 2

We have seen some photos of the model Priscillar with her face straight at the camera, like a passport photo. Often it is nicer to turn the head of the model. This shows off the shape of the face better. A photograph is two dimensional, flat. But the face we are showing has depth. The depth is shown off better on a photo when the head is turned to the side a little. Especially the shape of the cheeks and eye sockets comes out better. Also, to show the depth of the face, shadows are important, and these we can control by the position of the light compared to the position of the lens.

Here I am going to show some photos of Priscillar with her head turned a little. This has big implications for the light, because the photo is now a-symmetrical: it is different on the left side, from the right side. That means it makes a big difference if you place the light on the left side or the right side.

1

When the head is turned, the side of the face turned towards the camera looks long. The side of the face turned away from the camera looks short. When we light from the long side, we call it long lighting, when we light from the short side we call it short lighting. (see photo 1) Some (old fashioned) portrait photography guides recommend to light people with a broad face with short lighting, and people with a slim face with long lighting. I find this rigid and not conducive to creative photography.

A practical issue is: with short lighting on people wearing glasses there is a chance of the reflection of your light to show in the glasses and hide the eyes. Most of the time this is only desirable with sunglasses, not with clear ones. Then slightly turning the head, moving the camera or changing to long lighting will help.

2

 In photo 2 Priscillar has turned her face to the right. The light is straight above the camera, you see the shadow under the chin. This is called frontal lighting.

3

 In photo 3, I moved the light to a position straight in front of the nose. You see the light straight onto the face, while the side of the head is in the shade. This provides more modeling (depth) to the face then frontal lighting. This is called butterfly lighting, because the shadow under the nose is supposed to take on the shape of a butterfly. See how the light does bring out the texture of the shirt better then frontal lighting.

4

In photo 4, I moved the light further to the right. Now you see a shadow on the left side of the nose. The cheek turned towards the camera is mostly in the shade. We call this short lighting, because the light is directed towards the short side of the face.This position provides even more modeling then butterfly lighting.

5

Short lighting makes for big shadows. This gives a darkish mood, that can be beautiful, but often we want a brighter feel for our photos, especially in commercial portraits, and wedding photos. To achieve that I brought in the gold reflector again, on the left, to throw some light in the shadows. As with the light, the position of the reflector is important for the placement of the shadows. With the reflector on the left side, we get the deepest shadows between the lit side of the face and the side lit by the reflector, in this case the area around the earring is lit by the reflector. From the corner of the mouth to the eye you see a darker band. If you do not want this, but want to open up the shadows evenly, you place the reflector close to the lens.

6

In photo 6, I moved the light to the other side. Now it lights the long side of the face. We call this long lighting. There are clear shadows that provide modeling, but the shadows are much smaller than with short lighting. Notice how this gives a very different feel to the portrait. I use short lighting more than long lighting, but that is a matter of personal preference.

7

In photo 7, I show a specific use of long lighting. I used a grid on my flash to light only a small area of the photo. I get a dark, introspective mood, where the face is brightly lit against a dark background. This is called "Rembrandt light" after teh Dutch master painter Rembrandt van Rijn, from the 17th century. He is from my hometown Amsterdam. See here for an example: 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vTdgEecq0IAMP4xur3CiUQc_bNrqH3G1BdI42UhwPNGLXmvQ0-50SzTIW0a771O620Aa2FPsqVx2mUY7FcpIOPE2d8cIe4B6TuwMCb6TuvWJq8cYL4EOf1ARMRVvmwXUcfQAmktMfuLd/s1600/rembrandt-self-portrait-1629.jpg

8

Photos 1 to 6 were all with an open flash, which gives hard, unmodified light. This can be good, if you want strong prominent shadows. A disadvantage of hard light is that it brings out all skin blemishes. This can be used to your advantage for a character study of an old person where you do want to show the wrinkles clearly. Priscillar has beautiful skin, so the hard light has no wrinkles or pimples to bring out. But for many people, soft light is nicer. In photo 8 I added a soft box to the flash. This makes the flash big, and consequently the light soft. The effect is softer and sweeter, compare with photo 3.

9

In photo 9, I added a large white reflector opposite the light. You see how the shadows are opened up, but they are still there to provide modeling. This is a standard way to bring out the model's beauty. For fashion photos, model photography, or editorial portraits it is a bit standard and commercial. It can also depend on the style of the client you are working for. See how photo 4 and 7, with large shadows, direct your view more to her eye, and give you more incentive to reflect on her thoughts or personality.

10

Here is another way of showing her beauty: I turned her face straight to the camera, soft box straight above the camera and a reflector under her chin, just outside the photo. It opens up the shadows. this is often very flattering for female models.