Week 11 – Portrait Lighting Styles

From last week

Portrait Lighting Styles

There are a 5 basic lighting styles for portrait photography. Each style is defined by how light falls on the face.

1. Rembrandt Light – the model is face forward, main light is at 45 degrees and casts a light on the opposite side of the face to form a triangle on the cheek.

2. Broad Light-model’s face in 3/4 view-light falls on the side of the face with the visible ear. Good for controlling the reflections on glasses.

3. Short Light-model’s face is in 3/4 view, the light falls on the side of the face with the features. (Not on the side with the visible ear.)

Both of these are examples of short light.

4. Butterfly Light, Clamshell or beauty or glamour light-model is face forward, front light.

Photographer: Matthew Jordan Smith, Model: Tyra Banks

5. Split Light-model is face forward, the main light is at 90 degrees to the camera and falls on one side of the face. 

Left: Photographer-Yousef Karsh, Winston Churchill, 1941

Right: Photographer-Nadav Kandar, Donald Trump, 2016

Yousef Karsh

https://karsh.org/overview/portraits/#thumbnails

Nadav Kandar

https://www.nadavkander.com/portraits/portraits/single

Grammies 2022

Lab

Portrait Lighting Styles

Homework Assignment

HW 9: Environmental Portraits