butterfly lighting is a pattern in photography where the lighting sits above and pointing down on the subjects face. This creates a dramatic form of a shadow under the nose and chin which gives it a pattern on a butterfly. It is also given the name “paramount lighting” named for the Hollywood studio for how they lit up the actresses.
What do you need to capture butterfly lighting?
- A key light
- Flashes and triggers
- Modifiers
- Reflector
Marlene Dietrich, a German silent film actress, was one of the first people to be taken a photo of using this photography lighting technique. director Josef von Sternberg Was the one who would light her up in this way.
How do you set up a Butterfly Lighting photoshoot:
By using artificial light with aid of a flash, Butterfly lighting is very simple to create. The position of the Lighting should be directly in front of the subject and angled above them to create the shadow of a butterfly under the nose. If you find that the shadows created are a little too deep, then another subject could be there to aid the photographer with a reflector to hold below the subjects face.
Butterfly Lighting Photoshoot Edits:
For this example of Butterfly lighting, I placed the lighting directly I front of my subject and angled down onto her face. as you can see in the image, the shadow has been created under her nose. I slightly experimented with the poses of this shoot and got my subject to look upwards diagonally. thought this still worked, I think the shadow would have been dominant if she was facing straight on.
