Creative Film and Media Production : Lighting

Lighting

What Is Rembrandt Lighting?

Portrait photographers have a few main classic lighting setups to choose from. You can create many of them in their most basic form with a single light source, such as a speedlight.

The type of lighting isn’t important. But it needs to be a light source you can control. Natural light isn’t easy to control as a main light source.

Some of these setups include butterfly light and loop light. The names are often assigned after the type or shape of the shadows the light(s) casts on the model’s face.

Why Use Rembrandt Lighting?

Rembrandt lighting is a dramatic light. It is one of those moody setups that plays with chiaroscuro. This technique from paintings makes use of strong contrasts between light and dark.

These are usually bold contrasts that affect the whole composition. As such, this is a kind of lighting that suits low key photography best.

Rembrandt lighting will draw the viewer’s attention where the light triangle is from. This is because of the contrast between the dark and the light.

It also adds a mysterious feel to the image.

On top of this, it’s a simple setup to master. And you can create Rembrandt lighting with a single speedlight, for a punchy portrait.

Atmospheric portrait of a male model shot with Rembrandt lighting

What is Split lighting?

Split lighting involves “splitting” the face into two proportional halves, with one side being in the shadow and the other side being in the light. It can be done with a single light source, which makes it easy and inexpensive to execute even for beginners.

The light contained in the shadow side of your subject—particularly his eye—is called the catchlight. This adds to the impact of the image and draws the audience to it.

What is Split Lighting Used For?

This lighting technique is ideal for a variety of purposes:

Achieving a dramatic effect in portraits
Fashion photography
Commercial photography
Adding variety to a set of themed portrait photos
Making a broad face look slimmer

What is butterfly lighting?

Butterfly lighting is a portrait lighting pattern where the key light is placed above and directly centered with a subject's face. This creates a shadow under the nose that resembles a butterfly. It's also known as 'Paramount lighting,' named for classic Hollywood glamour photography.

Image result for butterfly lighting photography

High/Low key lighting

High Key and Low Key photography make use of lighting and contrast (or lack thereof) to create a specific mood. Originally high key photography emerged as a solution for screens that could not correctly display high contrast ratios. Today capturing high key photos, like low key photos, is a stylistic choice in photography.