Rembrandt lighting is a standard lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography as well as cinematography; it is also used in contrast with butterfly lighting and is popular because it is capable of producing images which appear both natural and compelling with a minimum of equipment.

Rembrandt lighting is named after a famous painter, Rembrandt, his most famous portraits, have a painted similar light pattern on his subjects, that’s why photographers call it Rembrandt lighting.

Rembrandt lighting appears from the side of the face, it is possible to tell this is Rembrandt lightning because of the downward triangle under the persons eye, on the cheek,that triangle is the most obvious light on the half of the face, where the shadows land.

There are many different set ups to achieve Rembrandt lighting, however the key rule to remember is to have the light source at an approximetly 45 degree angle from the camera with an additional reflector or fill-in light on the other side, a harsher light will produce a stronger Dimond shape on the other side of the face and a softer light will produce a fainter.

Below I have had a go at producing photographs using Rembrandt lighting techniques, on one of the photographs the Dimond on the cheek is much stronger then the other. This can be controlled with a harsher or softer light however I changed the exposure and sharpness as well as shadows and highlights to make one of the images more defined and darker.