Last month's article introduced Single Light Studio Lighting. Needless to say, that was only a brief overview of the topic. Since there is so much to discuss about shooting, even with just one light source, I thought I would continue by covering the Five Portrait Lighting Patterns: Short Lighting, which we will cover today, Broad Lighting, Rembrandt Lighting, Split Lighting, and Butterfly Lighting. There are plenty of other lighting styles which build upon these basic portrait lighting patterns, but all of them utilize just ONE main light.
SHORT LIGHTING.
Short lighting, by definition, refers to when the main light illuminates the side of the face that is turned away from the camera. This lets light fall on the narrow side of the face leaving a shadow on the broad side of the face, which is facing the camera. The actual position of the light or lights will depend on the style and mood of the portrait anticipated.
Short lighting is often used as a corrective technique to help make rounder faces look a little thinner. In this portrait lighting pattern the main light illuminates the subject on the shorter side of the face, where the distance seems shorter from nose to ear (or nose to the edge of the cheek), from the camera's perspective. Another way to think about this is that when the subject has his or her head turned to one side, you are lighting the side of the face that is farthest from the camera.
Positioning of the light in relation to the subject and camera
Start by placing the subject in the center of an imaginary circle. Place the light and the camera on the circle perimeter so that a ninety degree angle is formed when you draw a line from the camera to the subject and from the subject to the light.
At all times the subject, light, and camera remain within
one quadrant of the circle.
Set both the light and the camera to the subject’s eye level.
When the subject faces the camera directly, you will have
half the face lit and the other half in shadow. In effect, this
is side lighting.
When the light has been set-up, have the subject to turn
his or her head to camera right, or subject left, which
exposes the broad side of the face to the camera and the
narrow side of the face to the light. This is how the term short lighting is derived (the short side of the face is closer to the key light).
This exercise is best done with the constant light from a modeling light. This will allow you to see the effect of the light position on your subject immediately. Using a flash only will mean lots of trial and error, which is enormously time consuming.
STUDIO SHOOTS . . . MAY 2015
STUDIO SHOOTS
MASTER YOUR LIGHTING SETUP
--Dave Stabley
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