Rembrandt lighting is a standard lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography and cinematography. This technique utilises one light and one reflector or two separate lights. The technique results in a lit-up triangle underneath the subject’s eye on the less illuminated area of the face.

How to create a Rembrandt lighting setup:

Light: Lighting styles are determined by the positioning of your light source.  Rembrandt lighting is created by the single light source being at a 40 to 45-degree angle and higher than the subject. Use cans use both flashlights and continuous lights.

Lens: Use a 35mm or 50mm if space is at a premium – or if you’re looking at including more of the subject than just the head and shoulders. A 50mm works really nicely for portraits and will give a nice depth of field if you’re shooting at a shallow aperture. But a 35mm will give you a wider point of view and is great to fit more of the body in of your subject.

Here are some which I think are good examples:

My experimentation with Rembrandt lighting

These are some photographs I have taken which I think you can see some undeveloped features of the Rembrandt lighting technique.

Bert Teunissen

Bert Teunissen is best known for his work documenting European homes built before WW2 and their inhabitants.

I have observed that throughout this topic, Bert Teunissen has created a pattern in the way he stages his subjects. They either have their hands on their lap or if there is a surface available, they will have one arm leaning on it. This is a well made artistic decision as it creates a similarity across the images, even though they are all very different because of the subjects and their unique homes.

In the majority of the photographs, the subjects also have little to no expression on their faces. This, along with their hand placements, creates a sincere tone in the photographs.

Vanessa Winship

Vanessa Winship‘s projects consist of portrait, landscape, reportage and documentary photography which are predominately taken in Eastern Europe, along with the USA.

The majority of Winship’s works are in black and white. This dramatizes the images but also allows the detail in the photographs to be seen a lot better in my opinion. You can tell that she has carefully considered and planned her images due to the poses, framing, facial expressions, etc.

Image comparison

The task was to take photos of students around school. They had to be at least half-body shots in order to include parts of the background. This is so that the environment can contribute to the context of the photographs.

Here are the outcomes:

As you can see there is a variety of subjects, objects, backgrounds across my outcomes. I have also edited some in black and white to create more of a variety.

Environmental portraiture is considered a genre of photography. Environmental Portraits are photographed portraits which capture the subject in their natural environment or environments that they’re associated with. They typically highlight aspects of the subject’s life and surroundings.

These photographs are used to tell a story, more specifically details and information about a person or people’s lives. They may include certain objects which portray this, or this could be communicated through the subject’s clothing, pose, or the environment they’re photographed in.

Visual

We can see that the photograph itself has quite a dull and cold tone. From first impressions, attention is drawn to the foreground where the subject himself is. This is due to a number of things; his lack of expression, clothing, pose, and lighting that has been manipulated to make him appear even more intimidating. Then, there is of course the two beams which act as a sort of frame and adds lines of symmetry. The rest of the background is slightly blurred. I think this is a good creative choice as the background appears to be the most colourful part of the photograph, if it weren’t blurred it would take attention away from the subject. Nevertheless, it is still clear that there is quite a lot of straight lines. This creates a sense of uniformity, along with the subject’s pose, which creates the impression of power and control.

Emotional response

Without knowing any context, this photograph is very intimidating on its own. Arnold Newman has posed Alfred Krupp so that his head is resting on his hands. This creates a sense of power. This is also created from the fact he is wearing a suit, an assumed expensive watch, his blank facial expression, and even the factory in the background. We can assume that Alfred is in a position of power due to all these factors. It is clear that Arnold Newman has also carefully considered the lighting, as it creates shadowing to make Krupp appear even more sinister and intimidating.

Technical – how was the photo taken

The subject, Alfred Krupp, is centred in the foreground. This is where the audiences’ line of view lands, which is important as it allows the meaning to be portrayed as Arnold Newman intended. Alfred Krupp is the main subject and so the attention should be on him, the background should not draw away from him but should add to the meaning being created. Arnold Newman has achieved this.

Conceptual – why was the photo taken / presented

In 1963, Arnold Newman was offered commission by Newsweek magazine for taking photographs of German industrialist Alfred Krupp. Newman refused at first due to the individual’s background, however he eventually proceeded with the job.

“My hair stood on end,” Newman later said. It was considered one of the most important photos by the man who became known as the father of the environmental portrait.

Contextual – who, when, where etc…the story, background, impact

The subject is Alfred Krupp, a German industrialist who ensured a continuous supply of tanks, munitions and armaments for the German army. After the war, he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and the forfeiture of all property.

The American photographer, Arnold Newman, was well known for his environmental portraiture. Arnold Newman said in an interview that “It turned out to be one of my best photographs,” and that “It was my impression of a Nazi who managed to survive yet killed millions of people, not all were Jews”. This must’ve been a considerably meaningful photograph to him, considering he grew up in a Jewish family.

Contact sheet

Final images

Both could be described as landscape pictures. What kinds of landscapes do they describe?

Both photographs are seascapes. However, the artists have chosen to develop their images in different ways; Gustave Le Gray’s being more simplistic, and Dafna Talmor’s being more abstract.

What similarities do you notice about these two pictures?

Both photographs are seascapes.

What differences do you notice?

Although both photographers have chosen to photograph seascapes, they have edited them in different ways in order to produce these final images. Gustave Le Gray printed 2 negatives on a single sheet of paper: one exposed for the sea, the other for the sky, and sometimes made on separate occasions or in different locations. Whereas Dafna Talmor first shot the photographs on medium format film. She then sliced them to pieces. She could combine places thousands of miles apart on the same surface and construct her own imaginary land. The images are the product of laborious and painstaking collaging techniques that Talmor executes herself and then enlarges the newly created negative in the darkroom.

What words/phrases best describe each of these landscapes?

Dramatic, abstract, mysterious, gloomy, dark

In which of these landscapes would you prefer to live? 

Gustave Le Gray’s ‘The Great Wave’ as although the image has been altered like Dafna Talmor’s photograph, you can still see the whole structure. Dafna Talmor’s photograph is more mysterious and unknown which makes it less appealing to want to live in.

While creating my mood board, I searched for photographs of cars that relate to the theme as I knew this would be more realistic and achievable.

This is one of the images that ended up on my moodboard.

Realistically, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to recreate this image exactly as It isn’t very common for there to be a dumping ground of old, damaged cars. So, instead I decided to experiment with toy cars instead. I started off taking photographs in the studio. With a black backdrop.

Studio Results

However, these don’t resemble the original image very much. This is how I decided to photograph the cars in my garden as the original image is taken in what appears to be a field.

Final results

Step 1

First, you pick an image and put it into photoshop.

Step 2

Then, you follow these steps:

Image – Canvas size – Change size to cm – Double width

Step 3

1. Use the magic wand tool (4 down) to select the blank colour.
2. Right click and press select inverse.
3. Right click your image and press layer via copy, this will create a new layer.
4. Click Ctrl T (free transform)
5. Right click and press flip horizontal
6. Drag this to the other side

Step 4

Now repeat the process but instead of doubling the width in Step 2, double the height.

Then just fiddle around, rotate, blend your images until desired result.

Final result

I quite like how this image turned out, however it isn’t my favourite editing method.

On the other hand, I do like the result of Step 3:

I really like how it turned out, its quite simple but still visually appealing. It looks like arrows pointing up towards the sky. The opposing colours of the building and the sky makes it stand out more, along with the sharp, straight lines.