This lighting technique is characterised as a high-contrast lighting technique. Dark subjects were dramatically lighted by a shaft of light from a single constricted and often unseen source was a compositional device seen in the paintings of old masters such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt.

In photography, the Chiaroscuro lighting technique is achieved through using one key light and a variation using a reflector that reflects light from the key light back onto the sitter.

Using Flash: An example of “bouncing” the flash to soften the effects and create a larger “fill” can be tried wherever there are white walls/ ceilings. Flash units offer a range of possibilities in both low and high lighting scenarios such as: flash “bouncing”, fill-in flash, TTL / speedlight flash, remote / infra-red flash (studio lighting), fast + slow synch flash, light painting c/w slow shutter speeds.