Studio Portrait Lighting-A How To

[Benji]

There are seven images in this series.* Five will show what each light does on its own, one will show all of the lights together, then the final image will show a wide shot showing the light placement around the subject.

This first image shows just the background light. This light illuminates the background only and will keep any dark clothing that the subject may be wearing or her dark hair from blending in with the background. It also removes any shadows that may be cast from the main or fill lights.

Benji

P.S. This tutorial and several more of the tutorials found here on PhotoCamel are included in my DVD Photographing The High School Senior in The New Millennium. PM me for additional information.

[Benji]

This second image shows what the hair light does, which is illuminating the hair! It is above and behind the subject aimed down and will keep the hair looking healthy. A soft box could also be used. A small amount of spill on the shoulders is permissable but should be avoided if possible.

Benji

[Benji]

The third light is the kicker light (also known as the accent light or garlic light) and "kicks" some light onto the side of the subject's dark hair opposite of the main light side. This light should "connect" with the hair light and the main light so the hair is lit from all sides (wrap around lighting) and will make the subjects hair look great and keep it from blending in with a dark background.

It is also used on males to just graze the side of his face (it is called "Clint Eastwood" lighting when used in this fashion) and will outline the masculine jaw. It is occasionally used on women in the same fashion and for the same purpose. It should "kiss" the subject, not blast them, and when used as a kicker on long haired women should not encroach onto the cheek, nose, shoulder or chest.

Benji

[Benji]

The fourth light is the main light. The main light provides contrast from one side of the face to the other because it is more powerful than the fill light and will cast a shadow onto the opposite side. It should only illuminate the subject. A broad light source (such as a softbox) will cast a soft shadow. A hardlight source (such as a straight 16 inch parabolic reflector) will cast a harder shadow. The closer the light source is to the subject the softer the light appears.

Benji

[Benji]

The last light is the fill light. The fill light is a broad light source usually placed behind the photographer and fills in the shadows. This light should provide illumination to everything the lens of the camera will "see." This light will guarantee that your blacks will register with detail on your print. The fill should follow the nose. A fill metered at 2 stops less than the main will give you approximately a 3 to 1 ratio of highlight to shadow.

Benji

[Benji]

This is what the final image looks like when all of the above lights are used at the same time! I also posed her properly with the feminine head tilt.

Benji

[Benji]

A wide angle shot. I stood behind the fill light to get this shot. Beginning at camera left, you can see the aluminum light stand that holds the fill light which just ahead of me. The extreme right edge of the 62 inch umbrella can be seen at the top left of this image (it is black.)* The next light at camera left is the main light and it is at the subject's right up high aimed down. It is the black soft box that has "LiteDome 293" on it . It has louvers (which cannot be seen.) The next light is above and behind the subject which is the hair light. It is snooted to prevent light from spilling over onto the shoulders.* The last light is the kicker light which you can see on a stand at camera right rear beside the background. It also is snooted to keep the light exactly where it is aimed. In both the kicker and hair lights I have honeycombs which force the light to go in a straight line instead of spreading out.

Benji

[AlbertP]

That final image brought a smile to my face.

Outstanding image and outstanding tutorial. Thanks!

[captlen]

Thanks well done.

[dc2]

Great tutorial have a karma

[sfyffe]

Hi Benji,

In your wide angle shot where is your background light? Very helpful by the way.

Stephen

[Benji]

Originally Posted by sfyffe

Hi Benji,

In your wide angle shot where is your background light? Very helpful by the way.

Stephen

Stephen,

Thanks. The background light is placed directly behind the subject on a short light stand, aimed at the background. The reason you cannot see the stand is because the subject's body is completely hiding it.

I was taught that the background light should be brighter on the same side of the background as the main light is, but after trying it out I found that I prefer that it equally illuminate the entire background.

Benji

[Leohr]

Benji,

Thanks for pointing me to this tutorial. New to me was the concept of the kicker light. I'm going to play around with that.

Regarding the catch lights issue that you directed me here about, I think the problem is that I've been placing the main light too high, based on your final photograph. I'm going to tweak around with that as well.

In the paragraph about the main light, I suspect there was a typo? In the last line, "The closer the light source is to the subject the softer the light appears." Didn't you mean the further the light source, the softer the light appears?

Leohr

[John Roberts]

Benji, have you considered adopting the tool Photomatix for portrait work? It allows you to increase the dynamic range greatly. You can get some neat effects.

[jfrancho]

HDRI allows you capture more DR than the camera can in a single scene by compressing and remapping contrast via bracketed exposures. It doesn't really increase the DR, per se. It's an appropriate tool when lighting is out of the photographer's control. Since lighting is controlled in a studio setting, this tool wouldn't necessarily benefit the the phtoographer. If an area is improperly lit, the photographer adjusts the lighting. If you look above, that is the purpose of the fill light, to make sure that the shadow areas aren't clipped.