Lighting Academy Part 1

Photography is about capturing light and being able to supply your own rather than relying on the sun is the obvious and massive benefit of flash lighting.

Flash photography has increased in popularity thanks to the instant feedback of digital capture and Advanced Photographer will have regular features to help you get more from your kit, both indoors and out. This month is a pictorial guide to lighting effects with the help our model Steffi.

For the sake of clarity we used a Elinchrom Style 400 flash-head fitted with a Portalite softbox reflector with a white deflector in place. This lighting combination gives an intense light but for this exercise the smaller, direct light source gives a much more pronounced result. Also, to make sure you can see the lighting effect, we used just one flash-head without fill light or reflectors – except where captioned. When lighting a model normally you’d start with the key light and add an extra light or use reflectors to modify and soften the effect.

Our ‘studio’ was an office measuring about 4 x 6 metres, but the lighting set-up was within an area smaller than that. It goes to show that you do not have to have a massive area to take decent studio portraits. The background was a collapsible 6x7ft grey/white from Lastolite. An iPad app called Strobox was used to produce the lighting diagrams, http://strobox.com.

Butterfly Lighting

The butterfly is a reference to the shape of the shadow under the subject’s nose – you have to use your imagination a little.
This is a classic lighting technique that produces lovely pictures when reflectors are correctly positioned. The light is positoned above the camera and directly in front of the subject’s face. If the subject turns their head the shadow changes (images below) and the lighting unit must be moved in line to keep butterfly lighting. A reflector positioned below the subject’s head would do a great job of bouncing light up to fill in and strong shadows.

 

1. Our background was a collapsible grey/white 6x7ft Lastolite background held in position by a lighting stand.  

2. An Elinchrom Style 400BX flash-head was fitted with a Portalite softbox with the front diffuser cover taken off and a white deflector in place to give beauty dish lighting. The key light was angled down, in front of the model and above the camera position, which means shooting to one side of the light stand. 

3. The camera, a Nikon D700 fitted with a 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, was mounted on a tripod. We used a tripod on this shoot to ensure a constant position.

 

 Loop Lighting

This is the lighting effect that you see in common use commercially, frequently combined with some fill-in. It gives a more flattering look than Rembrandt.
Here the light unit is positioned above and to one side of the subject’s face and positioned so that you get a loop-shaped shadow under the subject’s nose that points down towards but not quite reaching the corner of the mouth. It is a good all-round light and flattering for people with oval faces.

1. The Portalite softbox measures 66cm square and this has been positioned above Steffi to give the loop shadow under her nose. The smaller the light source, the stronger the shadows. Larger softboxes are available for mains flash units and bigger units give a more rounded, softer effect perfect for flattering shots. Bigger softboxes make feathering the light easy too – we're be discussing such techniques later in this series.  

2. Compared with the image opposite where no light is falling onto the backdrop, some light on the background has made it come out grey.

 

Rembrandt's Triangle

Named after Rembrandt, the Dutch painter, whose portrait subjects often featured a triangle of light on the less brightly lit side of their face. In the studio, the unit needs to be high and to one side in front of the subject. Of course, every face is different so you need to move the light around to get the best effect. Ideally, the patch of light should be no wider than the eye and no longer than the nose. This is a moody and dramatic light that looks awesome with a suitable subject.

1. Go for Rembrandt's triangle light and you are guaranteed a dramatic, very moody result. It is brilliant for faces with character and not really ideal for more glamorous subjects like Steffi. Remember to return to the camera position to check the effect and don't be surprised if you have to spend a little time getting the right height for the light.

2. It is worth noting that the white background in the main picture has come out almost black. This is the result of keeping light from falling onto the background, and not by using a darker backdrop. We will be covering background techniques in future issues.

 

 Split Lighting

Moving the light to one side keeping it at the same height as the subject’s head gives a dramatic lighting effect. The heavy shadows give a graphic, powerful effect but it is not really a commercial type of lighting. It is great light if you have a craggy old bloke in front of your lens. A reflector can be used to soften the effect, but if you want to maximise contrast and keep shadows free of detail, try using a black reflector to stop any light bouncing around and falling onto the model.

1. Moving the light around is advised because every subject is dfferent. Positioning it at right-angles or even slightly behind the subject will give an even more powerful result, while bringing it forward still keeping the unit at right-angles to the subject, will give a more feathered effect and some the light will reach the subject as fill-in. 

2. Speaking of fill-in, a light coloured studio wall will bounce any stray flash back as fill-in to soften the heavy shadows. It you do not want this fill-in, use a black reflector positioned as close as possible to the subject. If you want fill-in use a white reflector.

Broad Lighting

Having the key light illuminating the side of the face closest to the camera is called broad lighting.
It is not a flattering light for subjects with broad or round faces because it enhances their chubbiness. But it is good with people with thinner, narrow faces. This type of lighting makes the picture look flatter and having fewer shadows means any facial wrinkles are less obvious.
Do watch how this type of lighting works with ears. You can find that a brightly lit ear will dominate the subject or stick out against a darker background, so slightly adjust the lighting or the model's head position to avoid this situation.

 

 

1. The light unit here is just above the eyeline but not too high. 

2. Broad lighting can be more flattering with people with thinner faces. Ears can be a problem so watch for them and ask the subject to adjust their head position if a lug is too prominent. 

3. An important part of people photography is communicating with the subject. You can be encouraging or just give simple instructions to get the right pose. Make your directions clear and imagine you are in the sitter's position, ie if you want the subject to look to your left, say look to the right. Small talk and rabbiting away is not essential. Take portrait photographer Snowdon for example. He is known for his periods of chilling silence during portrait sessions, and it hasn't done him any harm.

Narrow Lighting

Narrow or short lighting is where the subject’s face away from the camera is lit by the key light. The key light is positioned opposite to where it was for the broad lighting in the above situation and at the same height.
Adding a second flash-head can add fill-in but take care not to use too much light. Or use a reflector – white or silver – to lighten the shadow side of the face closest to the camera. This is a lovely light for general portraits where you want to make the most of strong lines and a good flattering form of lighting for people with round faces. Turning the model's head to face towards the lens gives stronger shadows and more drama.

1. Narrow or short lighting is generally more flattering than broad lighting, because it makes round faces appear slimmer. With the key light to the right – as we look – in our example here, fill light can be added using a unit set to a lower output on the left side. A white or silver reflector, such as Lastolite Trigrip supported on a stand can be used instead if you want to keep the lighting as simple as possible. 

2. Unless you are shooting in a proper studio or a long living room, you are going to be limited in how far you can bring the model away from the background. However, even a metre or so can make all the difference because too close and you are going to have the problem of shadows. For all the shots here, the camera's and the model's position remained constant.

 

Taken from the December 2010 issue of Advanced Photographer magazine

Click here to download the original full article

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