Chiaroscuro lighting is a high-contrasting light technique that utilises a low-key lighting set up to achieve contrast between the subject and the dark background. Window light is the most accessible for this technique, as it focuses on only half of the models face being seen. By using window light, the photographer is able to enhance the exposure to avoid any distraction in the background of the photo. This helps keep the spotlight on the model. The window must be the only source of light when using this technique, if there is other background lighting then the focus will drift from the model into the background.

This technique is mainly used in film to create striking images or evoke a certain feeling. The contrast between light and shade can help frame a subject more effectively. Drawing viewers eyes to things they would not usually focus on in the image. 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.

Chiaroscuro simply means is ‘ the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. ‘

Chiaroscuro provides a sense of drama and intensity that remains striking today

Examples of Chiaroscuro Lighting:

Lighting set up:

For this effect, you light across your subject in one direction, and here we lit the background in the reverse direction. Ideally, the subject should go to black on the unlit side and the same for the background. Chiaroscuro lighting typically involves using a single, strong light source positioned at an angle to the subject. This directional light creates dramatic shadows and highlights.

Light – Chiaroscuro mainly uses one key light, and a variation using a reflector which helps deepen the contrast between the shadows.

My own photoshoots-

Overall, I am happy with these outcomes. They are definitely my most preferred out of all three styles of lightings as I personally think we have got the closest to the correct lighting in this style. We experimented with a black and white backdrop as shown and not just a head shot but personally my favourite is with a black backdrop as the shadows blend in with the background which creates a unique effect and looks more professional. I edited the images to create more depth of the shadows but still keeping it light and bright. One benefit of this technique is if the model prefers one side of their face and also creates a dramatic significant effect. One side of their face is almost gone from the shadows but definitely black drops are my favourite which links to the famous work above as they have also used black backgrounds.

Butterfly lighting is a portrait lighting pattern where the key light is placed above and directly centred with a subject’s face. This creates a shadow under the nose that resembles a butterfly.

butterfly lighting is typically used in beauty and fashion photography, because 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.

some examples of butterfly lighting are:

All Paramount lighting consists of is a key light placed above and directly centered with a subject’s face. You want this light source to be above and behind the camera, angled down towards your subject. This can be achieved with either a continuous light softbox or a strobe / off-camera flash.

my attempt:

as you can see here I achieved the signature butterfly shadow under his nose in most of my attempts in this photography achieving both a softer approach to the photography style and harsher and sharper shadows.

in an attempt to better understand the lighting set up and the effects of different posing i later put my self in the place of the model and experimented with different angles, lighting positions and reflective sheets.

Here are the results after editing:

In these first two I attempted to recrate the classic holly wood editing where this style of photography originated, with very harsh shadows allowing for the contouring of the cheekbones and drawing focus to the jaw and eyes, I believe I achieve this effect in these photos and I believe I achieved the signature butterfly shadow.

In these photographs I attempted to achieve a softer look in the photography, still outlining the key features of the face and still showcasing the signature butterfly shadow but creating an over all softer effect for the photographs.

Chiaroscuro editing:

Also known as split lighting, the aim of this photo was to make one side of my face luminous while the other side is dark. This was my portrait before any editing, I think this lighting technique is effective as it gives a mysterious look. We ensured to keep the continuous lights off in order to achieve the dark look on one side of my face. This helped because it added a sense of drama to the photo making the left side very dark, and illuminate the brighter side of my face which created a successful contrast.

History of editing:

Final image:

This is my final edited image. I decided to keep the temperate and tint the same as before because my main focus was not to make the image look warmer. If I had adjusted the temperature it would decrease the dramatic effect, which I didn’t want. Instead I decreased the texture to give myself a smooth appearance, which prevents the viewer from being distracted. Additionally, I increased the saturation which helped illuminate the bright side of my face, which also increased the contrast between the light and dark side.

Rembrandt editing:

This was my original photo before any editing. We struggled to achieve the idea of a triangle appearing under the models eye, as we decided to make the background black for this photoshoot. We chose to do this because we thought it would enhance the triangle effect, however it did not turn out as successful as we thought it would.

History of editing:

Final image:

This is my final edited image for Rembrandt lighting, where I tried to highlight underneath the models right eye by increasing the shadows by an immense amount. I also increased the contrast because this would make the image appear brighter on the side where the flashlight hit, yet darker on the side where there was no light. By decreasing the vibrancy, it allowed me to achieve the black and white effect more successfully, as it instantly made the image appear more catastrophic.

Butterfly editing:

This is my photo before editing. We tried to achieve the butterfly effect by using a flashlight instead of a continuous light, as we thought we would achieve the strong, eye-catching deep shadow under the models nose. However, we used a reflector when taking these photos, which meant that our photos were significantly less effective. We soon realised that this was not as effective as it would have been if we used continuous lighting, because it also meant we were in less control of the outcome. This is because we made the room dark in order to receive the full potential of the flash, meaning we could not see what was working in the photo and what wasn’t.

History of editing:

Final image:

This is my final edit for our butterfly lighting attempt. Although it did not work as successfully as we hoped, I think the use of the editing process significantly helped improve the look of the photo and achieve the butterfly effect to an extent. I decreased the exposure a notable amount as it helps dull the image, which in a way helps increase the dark shadows. In addition to this, by increasing the contrast it helped bring out the shadows against the light, enhancing the butterfly effect. I decreased the vibration and exposure to -100 as it made my final image black and white, which I think is the more successful version for this technique of lighting.

More final edits:

what is butterfly lighting?

butterfly lighting is a lighting technique that consists of where the key light is placed above the object in the photo. this helps create the shadow under the nose that looks like a butterfly hence where is gets it name from.

butterfly light lighting originates from Hollywood 1930s as it helped create some of the earliest glamour shot. German silent film actress Marlene Dietrich helped give this technique its name after how she was presented in one of the films she stared in.

why use this form of lighting?

by using butterfly its helps the facial feature stand out more (cheekbones etc) and become one of the photos main attraction, however the main focus of the photo is the shadow under the nose (butterfly) and neck as this is what makes everything pop in the photo. overall this technique is perfect for making glamour shots as it makes the person look more symmetrical and it also makes the person look more thinner.

as you can see the lighting makes the model look more eye catching as all her facial feature are popping.

how do you create butterfly lighting?

lens-

the best lens to use is 55m as it gets you a close and focused photo with heavy detail of the person.

Light-

to create butterfly lighting artificial or natural light can be used, also hard and soft lighting is also applicable for this technique

soft vs hard lighting

I like this three quarter length photo that I took because she is looking directly at the camera, which shows she is engaged and se is in a posed position. She is surrounded by random objects around her which we attempted to convey a message of randomness. I like the contrast between her uniform position with a blank expression with the amount of objects around her.

I then edited another photo which is a full-body shot from these series of photos I took and made it black and white. I trialled this in black and white to see if this would help with the contrast of my models seriousness with the wildness of the background. I prefer these photos in colour so that you can all the colours of the objects.

This photo is a half body shot which shows my model in the same shot but at a closer up angle, this is a strong photo I think, but I think to improve she could be doing something in the photo for example, completing work or doing what she would be doing in her ‘natural environment’.

I like these half body shots of a teacher in her natural environment. She is teaching, which is her job. My model is standing doing her work by using test tubes and scientific equipment, her posing perfectly portrays what she does in her day-to-day life. I like the different colours such as the greens and reds, I think this is a good focal point for the picture. I also like the shadow behind her, I tried to maintain this whilst editing this photo.

After Before

I had to edit this photo and focus on increasing the brightness as I took it in an aperture which made the photo very dark.

I think that this photo is the strongest photo I took during this photoshoot. I think this perfectly shows a students natural environment around my model, I also think a big impact can be made from her standing in the middle of the street, making a full body shot. The way the world is still continuing around her but she is not reacting creates a powerful message for my environmental photography.

These photos had a white shadow reflecting on my model, due to this, I used Photoshop to attempt to edit and remove the white glint as much as possible however, this made the exposure very high and the photo very dark. This reduces the quality of the photo, however without this white glint I think this image of a guitarist learning a song could be very strong.

What is Chiaroscuro lighting?

A visual element originating from art, Chiaroscuro comes from the Italian word for light dark. In art however, it is defined as the bold contrast between light and dark.

First appearing in portrait paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, Their birthplaces can be found in Italy and Flanders (Holland). In these paintings the subjects, in a dark environment, would be casted in a singular beam of light, that was emitted from an unseen source.

(These paintings were also attempted by a previously mentioned artist, Rembrandt, Who’s own lighting in art was stylised In photography also).

(Most likely the most famous example of Chiaroscuro, Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Girl with the pearl earring’ 1665).

Origins in film –

Used by Hollywood, Chiaroscuro can be seen in elements of film noir, where it is used to emphasise Moral ambiguity, enigmatic presence and sexual motivation. Seen in old detective films from the 40’s and 50’s, its use can connote the idea of interrogation lamps casting a singular beam or street lamps illuminating one part of the sidewalk. It additionally has its roots in German expressionist cinematography.

(Noir detective films using Chiaroscuro).

Origins in Photography:

In Photography, Chiaroscuro lighting is used artistically to create dark and dramatic portraits of a subjects face.

It has been played around with since the invention of the camera, further exploring the same techniques of light seen in painting.

How to create Chiaroscuro lighting:

Light –

To take Chiaroscuro, either a constant or flash of key light must be on the subject.

Additional edits:

A black back drop is the best for this as it creates more of a stark contrast on the viewers facial features.

Additionally the option of a reflector to soften the light on the facial features is also available if the photographer is not opting to go for an extremely dark image.

Lens – Using 35mm or 55mm is the best Lens size for Chiaroscuro as close-ups are the main aim for lighting technique.

Examples of own work:

Why do we use studio lighting?

It improves the quality of your photos and can offer some creative assistance that can set your final product apart from others. They are a common sight in studios, and the variety of lights tell every one of them has a specific use for different kinds of photography. Using professional lighting equipment can give your photos a professional look that sets them apart from the rest. Also, It sets the mood, provides direction, shows dimension and texture, and creates the darkest shadows.

What is the fill lighting?

A fill light is responsible for exposing the details of a subject that fall in the shadows of the key light. It is the secondary light in the traditional 3 point lighting setup. The fill light is typically positioned opposite of the key light to literally fill in the shadows that the key light creates.

Butterfly Lighting

Butterfly lighting is a technique where the light source is placed directly above and slightly in front of the subject’s face, creating a small butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose. It can make the subject look thinner and their eyes appear larger. 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. This is one point lighting as only one light is used.

These are prime examples of butterfly lighting images.

This is the set up:

My take at butterfly lighting:

For these images, I think I did well getting the lighting in the right places making a butterfly effect under the nose and defining the cheek bones.

Rembrandt lighting

Rembrandt was known for his history paintings and portraits commissioned by patrons, but he also pushed forward the genre of self-portraiture. The Dutch Master didn’t let thoughts of anatomy override him, nor did he micromanage his strokes. Rembrandt made a stroke abstractly — as if he were not painting forms at all. As a result, the viewer sees the paint articulating as much information as possible. Because of this, Rembrandt’s work is very subtle.

Rembrandt lighting is a technique utilizing one light and one reflector or two separate lights. It’s a popular technique because it creates images that look both dramatic yet natural. Rembrandt made the pictures more tense and dramatic with sharp contrasts between light and dark. In portraiture, the eyes of your subject are mostly always the main point of focus in the image. The triangle of light, placed just below the eye on the shadow side of the face, will increase the emphasis and the viewer really will be ‘drawn in’ to your image.

This is the set up:

This is a professional picture using Rembrandt lighting.

As you can see, just below the eye, is a triangle shape. That is key in this style of lighting.

My take at Rembrandt lighting:

For this lighting technique, I found it a bit more difficult to get the lighting in the right place. It took several attempts, however i got there in the end.

Chiaroscuro lighting

Chiaroscuro is a lighting technique that utilises a low lighting setup to achieve contrast between the subject and a dark background. It emphasises and illuminate important figures in a painting or drawing. Chiaroscuro using one key light and a variation using a reflector that reflects light from the key light back onto the sitter. The term chiaroscuro stems from the Italian words chiaro “clear” or “bright” and oscuro “obscure” or “dark”, and refers to the arrangement of light and shade in a work of art.

This is the set up:

These are professional pictures using the Chiaroscuro lighting technique:

One side of the models face, will always remain darker with more shadows.

My take at Chiaroscuro lighting:

I liked this lighting technique the most as in my opinion it was the easiest. I like how one side of the face is light, and the other half is dark.

Three Point lighting

Three-point lighting is the standard form of professional lighting in video production and still photography. It involves using three light sources placed in three different positions. I used a light positioned in front of the subject, a light slightly behind the subject, and a reflector positioned just in front but placed to the side of the subject.

1 point lighting only uses 1 light source (usually a key light), this could be a light facing someone in a studio, or if someone is outside, the light source would be the sun. It is important as without any lighting you won’t be able to see anything and the photo would just be darkness.

2 point lighting commonly uses 2 light sources or a light and a reflector. It is usually placed at a 45 degree angle from the subject and usually uses a main light and a fill light.

Rembrandt lighting is a technique utilising one light and one reflector or two separate lights. It’s a popular technique because it creates images that look both dramatic yet natural. It’s predominantly characterised by a lit-up triangle underneath the subject’s eye on the less illuminated area of the face (fill side). One side of the face is lit well from the main light source while the other side of the face uses the interaction of shadows and light, also known as chiaroscuro, to create this geometric form on the face. The triangle should be no longer than the nose and no wider than the eye. This technique may be achieved subtly or very dramatically by altering the distance between subject and lights and relative strengths of main and fill lights.

Rembrandt lighting takes its name after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, a 17th-century Dutch painter who was known for using earthy tones and golden highlights to frame the faces of his portraiture subjects. What made his painting style distinct was focusing lighting on the subject’s face and adding detail around it, tapping into an innate human attraction to the face. The Rembrandt lighting technique results in a moody and dramatic effect. This type of lighting technique often features a dark or black background behind the subject, putting the subject front and centre.

Rembrandt lighting technique is considered one of the go-to photography lighting setups because it produces a dramatic visual effect without requiring a lot of setup. A more sophisticated version of this setup includes a reflector, which brings detail back into the shadows on the subject’s face, but even this setup requires minimal tools and associated costs.

 For the single light method you will need:

• indoor studio environment
• off-camera light source with stand
• optional: 32″ – 42″ reflector or split light sources

At its most basic, 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.

Rembrandt Lighting Photoshoot:

For this photoshoot, I took studio portraits using a Rembrandt lighting technique. In order to achieve this look, I placed my light source on a 45 degree offset from my subject (approximately). I then experimented with different distances and angles in order to get the most defined triangular shape I could possibly get. I had multiple attempts at this until I was satisfied with the final outcome.

Overall, I like how these images came out as I think I successfully managed to create a triangular shape on the majority of my images which is what I was trying to achieve. Additionally, I like the negative space in the background of my images which helps to draw the attention to the subject only. However, if I were to do this photoshoot again, I would try to get a more defined triangle shape and use Lightroom to enhance it even more. Additionally, to improve my final outcomes, I would make some of my images black and white as seen in traditional studio portrait photography.

Response to evaluation:

I decided to edit my images on photoshop in order to make them black and white as this was a common theme amongst the other images I saw online. I think I did this successfully and my final images came out similar to those seen on the internet. The black and white also helped to define my triangular shape created from the lighting setup as you can see the comparison more clearly and your attention is immediately drawn to the brighter side of the face rather than the different colours seen on her sweater etc.

Rembrandt Lighting Photoshoot 2:

For my second attempt at creating Rembrandt lighting, I decided to include more of my subjects body in it as the first set of photos only had their face/ upper body. I think these photos came out well as they are of good quality and you can see the triangular shape on the subject’s face, which is the main focal point in a Rembrandt lighting photograph. However, an improvement that I would make to this photoshoot is I would turn the subject on her side slightly in order to enhance the triangle shape seen on her face. Additionally, I would get her to experiment with her hands more and maybe place them on her face etc. Finally, to finish this photoshoot, I decided to edit my photos and make them black and white on photoshop.

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. One of the most famous photographers to use butterfly lighting was George Hurrell, who was known for his dramatic portraits of Hollywood stars, and since, the technique has grown more popular.

This creates a shadow under the nose that resembles a butterfly. It’s also known as ‘Paramount lighting,’ named for classic Hollywood glamour photography.

Some benefits of butterfly lighting is-

• It’s Perfect for Portraits. Butterfly lighting is often used in portrait photography, especially in headshots. …
• Create Different Moods. …
• Easy to Set Up. …
• It’s a Natural Look. …
• It’s Versatile.

Butterfly lighting is primarily used in a studio setting. It is named “butterfly” because of the butterfly shaped shadow that it creates just under the models nose. This occurs because of the lighting in the shot, comes from above the models head. Butterfly lighting is mostly used for portraits, as it is flattering on everybody.

Lighting set up:

Light – Butterfly lighting requires a key light that can be a flash unit, or continuous. If continuous, it can be artificial or natural, meaning you have a lot more choice in which lighting you think would benefit your photos a lot more. Butterfly lighting can be varied, soft or hard depending on the objective of the image.

Lens – The most popular lens used for butterfly lighting is between a 50 – 85mm lens. This helps the photo because it allows a larger depth of field.

My own photoshoots-

Within these photos, we placed the light in a 45 degree angle above the subject in order to attempt to get the shadow underneath the subjects nose. We attempted to get that strong eye catching deep shadow however we used a reflector in the set up which as shown above there is a significant better result without the reflector. I have therefore learnt for future photoshoots using this technique in order to improve and result in a better outcome without a reflector would be better. However within these images, I either increased or decreased the exposure depending on how exposed and bright the image was so it has the correct amount of brightness. I increased the contrast on both images so the image was more detailed and had high depth in the shadows which is needed for this lighting style. To emphasize this, I decreased the shadows just to add more eye catching and significance to the image but contrasted that with increasing the highlights so the image wasn’t too dark or dull as the contrast had been increased. Finally, I increased the whites and decreased the blacks so it had a perfect mix and balance of both. Overall I decreased the texture so the image looked a lot smoother therefore making the outcome look a lot more professional.

• Why do we use studio lighting? We use studio lighting as it allows you to capture a large number of photographs and ensure absolute light consistency in exposure, colour, and image quality. It can also give your photos a professional look that sets them apart from the rest.
• What is the difference between 1-2-3 point lighting and what does each technique provide / solve? One point lighting would involve just one light and this would be illustrated as the key light. The way in which we would utilise this light effectively would be to use a soft box in order to convert the light into a powerful diffusion light source.  It has the most natural look and can have a dramatic lighting effect. It also draws attention, but can give a person onstage a very flat, two-dimensional look. In a two-point lighting setup, two light sources are usually placed at 45 degree angle from the subject. One of them is your key light, which is the main light used to illuminate the subject, and the second is your fill light which helps to remove harsh shadows on the subject that are created by the key light source. Three-point lighting is a traditional method for illuminating a subject in a scene with light sources from three distinct positions. The three types of lights are key light, fill light, and backlight. Key light is the primary and brightest light source in the three-point lighting setup

What is fill lighting? A fill light is responsible for exposing the details of a subject that fall in the shadows of the key light. It is the secondary light in the traditional 3 point lighting setup. The fill light is typically positioned opposite of the key light to literally fill in the shadows that the key light creates.