What are the lighting techniques commonly used in portrait photography?

As a portrait photographer, we are exposed to one of the most important basic courses, lighting. When we know the posture and expression of the portrait, mastering the skills of using light plays an important role in shooting high-quality portraits. In order to help you better control the lighting in portrait photography, we will introduce five common lighting techniques.

First, the plane lighting

Definition of plane lighting:

Simply put, plane lighting means that the light source directly faces the object from the lens angle. Plane lighting provides the least obvious lighting mode because it casts the least shadow on the face of the object.

Plane lighting arrangement:

Put the main light in front of the subject, in line with the shooting direction, and adjust the angle of the light to make it shine on the face of the portrait. This kind of light provides a very intuitive lighting effects for portraits, which can reduce wrinkles and flaws on the face.

Common uses of plane lighting:

Because this light pattern produces a very intuitive lighting effect, photographers use plane lighting in macro photography and headshots.

Second, the butterfly lamp lighting

Butterfly light definition:

Butterfly lighting (or Paramount lighting) is located in front of and above the subject's face. This mode will produce a shadow directly under the five senses of the subject or a butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose, hence the name butterfly lighting.

Butterfly lamp arrangement:

Set the main light in the form of plane light, and then raise the light until you see the shadow of "butterfly" under the nose of the subject. Adjust the front of the light so that it faces your subject. The only difference between plane lighting and butterfly lighting is height and angle, which creates the same soft light characteristics as plane lighting.

Common uses of butterfly lights:

When the reflector is used to soften the shadows in portrait photography, this lighting mode is very effective in makeup photos.

Third, ring lighting.

Ring lighting definition:

Ring lighting is a common lighting method. Annular lighting provides a good light middle area, in which most of the face is illuminated, but there are still enough shadows to depict the portrait face.

Annular lighting arrangement:

If you already know how to use butterfly lighting, all you need to do is move the light around the subject until it tilts about 25-50 degrees to the left or right, and then down to the subject's face.

Common uses of ring lighting:

Because of the unique angle of this light pattern, it creates a more dramatic appearance. The shadow points down from the nose to one side, and there will be more light on the side of the subject. We can make full use of this to illuminate the prominent part of the subject's face.

Fourth, Rembrandt lighting.

Rembrandt lighting definition:

Rembrandt, a Dutch master painter, used this lighting style in many of his paintings, so he was named after the painter. The popularity of Rembrandt lighting and this lighting method are very common. In portraits, Rembrandt's illumination can be distinguished by half of the subject's face in the shadow, except for the triangular light on the cheekbones and eyes.

Rembrandt lighting arrangement:

Starting from the circular lighting position, move the main light around the main body until the shadow of the nose touches the shadow of the face, which mainly keeps one side of the face in the shadow, but keeps the triangular light on the cheekbones and eyes.

Common uses of Rembrandt lighting:

Rembrandt's angle is stronger than circular lighting. The more shadows we add to the subject, the more dramatic the lighting will be. Rembrandt lighting is widely used in all types of portrait photography, including portraits of athletes.

Five, split lighting

Split lighting definition:

Now let's go to the last lighting mode in this list: split lighting. Split lighting only "splits" the subject's face, illuminating half of the subject's face while the other half is in the shadow. Because of the angle of light, there is no Rembrandt triangle, only a shadow.

Split lighting arrangement:

The main light is directly set at 90 on the right or left side of the subject's face, and the dividing line of light and shadow will be located in the middle of the nose and chin, thus creating the most eye-catching light and deep shadow.

Common uses of segmented lighting:

If plane and ring lighting fills wrinkles, divided lighting will exaggerate wrinkles; Photographers often use this lighting mode in sports portraits for this reason, and divided lighting will highlight the muscle clarity and physical characteristics of athletes.