In filmmaking, chiaroscuro is a high-contrast lighting technique. Chiaroscuro uses a low key lighting setup, where a key light is used as the sole light source to achieve dark backgrounds with starkly lit subjects. It was first introduced during the Renaissance. It was originally used while drawing on coloured paper though it is now used in paintings and even cinema.
The term describes the striking use of the light and shade contrast in painting, drawing or print. The main principle of chiaroscuro is that solidity of form is best achieved by the effect of light falling on it, allowing the shading to give two-dimensional figures a sense of volume.
Chiaroscuro in photography: Chiaroscuro using one key light and a variation using a reflector that reflects light from the key light back onto the sitter.
Butterfly lighting is a lighting pattern used in portrait photography where the key light is placed above and pointing down on the subject’s face. This creates a dramatic shadow under the nose and chin that looks like a butterfly.
Butterfly lighting is used for portraits. It’s a light pattern that flatters almost everybody, making it one of the most common lighting setups. Butterfly lighting was used to photograph some of the most famous stars from classic Hollywood, and that’s why it’s also called Paramount lighting.
It is used for taking flattering, glamorous portrait photos. The lighting is soft on the face. It forms a butterfly-shaped shadow under the subject’s nose, which is the source of the name. It is ideal for portraits as it highlights the subject’s main features, like the nose and cheekbones.
Lighting: Butterfly lighting requires a key light that can be a flash unit or continuous. If continuos, it can be artificial or natural. In other words, you can use strobes, speedlights, LEDs or even the sun.
A butterfly lighting effect refers to the setup and not to the quality of light – it can be soft or hard light depending on the effect you want.
Rembrandt lighting consists of a single light source placed on a 45 degree offset from the subject, about 5 feet away. Positioned roughly two feet higher than eye level, the light source is angled slightly downward and hits the side of the face that is farthest away from the camera. It creates a triangle on the side where the shadow is.
Rembrandt lighting is used to create a mysterious or moody portrait. The viewer’s attention should be drawn to the triangle of light on the subject’s cheek. Typically this lighting was used for portrait subjects with round or full faces because it creates a slimming effect.
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.
Where does it come from?
Rembrandt lighting takes its name from the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt. He was a master of the chiaroscuro technique. And he often used this kind of light in his paintings, particularly in his self-portraits. Rembrandt loved to paint himself with this kind of light.
My Dad is a marine engineer, working on boats everyday fixing engines and making sure everything runs smoothly. By taking pictures of him working on engines and boats it would create a great environmental portrait. I would take pictures of him in his workshop, with tools and other things in the background.
Arnold Newman is widely renowned for pioneering and popularizing the environmental portrait. With his method of portraiture, he placed his sitters in surroundings representative of their professions, aiming to capture the essence of an individual’s life and work. Using a large-format camera and tripod, he worked to record every detail of a scene. Newman’s best-known images were in black and white, although he often photographed in color.
Image Analysis
The focal point of the image is the man’s eyes, the black and white creates depth and texture on the man face. The lighting used is harsh to create the shadows, this creates the contrast in the image from the brightest areas in the middle of his face to the darkest under his eyes. The shadows help to create depth of field as seen on the mans face and hand but the background is blurred. The contextual factors of the image could tell a story about this man’s life, this brings in the idea of environmental portraits and there are stories behind these people. In my work I am going to try and use similar lighting techniques as the photographer.
“An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography”
What makes an environmental portrait?
An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.
What distinguishes an environmental portrait from a studio portrait?
A typical environmental portrait simply will illuminate a subject’s life and surroundings. A studio portrait is a portrait which will focus less on surroundings and more on the individual by using sterile backdrops and props so to help enhance the focus on the individual in the photo.
When I first look at the image it creates a scary and intimidating feel. This is created by the way the image is taken, the photographer takes the image from a straight on angle. Newman uses the rule of thirds to ensure that the photograph is symmetrical. He also uses a frame within a frame which makes him the focal point of the image, the lighting also helps to do this. The frame in the image makes it feel as if he does not want us to go into were he is working and for us to not see anything. The natural lighting coming from inside of the building would creates a silhouette of the man, but because the photographer has used studio light it stops this. The studio light creates dark shadowing on the mans face around his eyes and clothing, this is what creates the scary and intimidating look to the image. The leading lines in the image coming from the beams and rail tracks creates depth in the image. These leading lines create triangles which are strong shapes, which makes the image so strong and symmetrical. The image was taken in 1963 years after the second world war, in Germany. This could imply that the image could have something to do with the Holocaust and maybe he had some involvement.
Background to the Photograph
In 1963 Newsweek magazine wanted to commission photographer Arnold Newman to take a picture of German industrialist Alfred Krupp. At first, Newman declined the offer. The Jewish American photographer saw the convicted (and later pardoned) war criminal as the devil and wanted to put a knife in his back. But Newman did proceed with the job. A sinister-looking man, Krupp was seated on a platform with his factory in the background. Newman asked him to lean forward. Krupp clasped his hands together under his chin. “My hair stood on end,” Newman would later say. It was considered one of the most important photos by the man who became known as the father of the environmental portrait.
Quote :
“I was doing some work for Newsweek, mainly covers, and they asked me to photograph Alfried Krupp. Krupp, a German industrialist, used slave labor during World War II. When the workers were too weak to produce, he just shipped them off to Auschwitz to die.
So when the editors asked me to photograph him I refused. They asked why. I said, ‘Because I think of him as the devil,’ and they said, ‘Fine, that’s what we think.’ So I was stuck with the job.
When I arrived at the factory and was told by Krupp’s PR people that the sitting was off, I demanded that my photographs be shown to Krupp so that he could decide for himself. The startled PR guy complied, and then came back and said, ‘Herr Krupp would like to see you.’ Krupp told me, ‘These are beautiful pictures. You must photograph me.’
