Classic Portrait Lighting

When using off-camera light, your free to put your lights just about anywhere you want, so long as you have an assistant with a monopod, a Justin Clamp, or a lightstand. That said, there are three basic placements for your light, each creating a specific look or emphasizing a particular aspect of your subject. These are photographs from George Hurrell, probably the best of Hollywood's "Golden Age" photographers.

Short Light

In Short Light, the width of the Highlight side of the face is shorter than the shadow side of the face, hence its name..

• The Catchlight, or the reflection in the eye produced by the Key Light, would give a clue to the key light's placement. While this photo is a good sample of Short Lighting, the catchlight actually comes from the Fill Light, which is placed near the camera.

• The ear closest to the camera is in shadow .

• The Highlight Side  of the face will appear narrower (shorter) than the Shadow Side of the face.

Short light is the most flattering lighting, since it de-emphasizes the width of the face.It is more difficult to achieve Short Lighting because the light must be further from the lens axis.

Broad Light

In Broad Light, the highlight is wider than the shadow.

• The Catchlight shows that the Key Light is place at Camera Right.

• The ear closest to the camera is in the Highlight Side.

• The Highlight Side  of the face will appear wider (broader) than the Shadow Side of the face.

Bogey's face was pretty narrow already, so Broad Lighting doesn't really affect our perceptions of "heavy".

Butterfly Lighting

In Butterfly Lighting, the Key Light is placed directly above the subject so that the shadow is cast straight down. The slight inclination of Ms. Bacall's head obscures the fact that the lighting is indeed aligned with her head. Notice the alignment of the nose shadow with the axis of the face.

It is said that Butterfly lighting gets its name from the butterfly-shaped shadow cast beneath the subjects nose. Truthfully, I can't see it.

Ms. Bacall's head, turned slightly towards Camera Right, conceals her right ear.

Click here for suggestions for using on-camera fill flash to maintain shadow detail in photos made under bright sunlight.

The Nose Knows: Generally speaking the light source should be aligned with your subject’s nose. This is seldom a problem when photographing people when they are facing the camera. Click on the link for a brief posting on the subject.