Rembrandt Lighting

A patch of triangular light is below one eye of the model on the less lit side of the face. This is a natural looking technique that creates dramatic, interestingly lit photos.

To achieve this style of lighting the best option is to, place one light on one side of the model above head height casting light downwards and at the front of the model so not backlit. You could then use a reflector or a fill light, but more commonly a reflector at half height on the other side of the models face still at the front of the models face. To create a successful image the triangle should be no longer than the nose and no wider than the eye. A simple way of looking at it is to have one lighting source on a 45 degree angle from the front of the subjects face and making sure the light is above them. This is also a great technique as it allows for people to use it even with non professional equipment as it only requires one light and a reflector is useful but not essential.

It began as a technique used by a Dutch painter, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn featured throughout a lot of his work however it became better known when a 20th century filmmaker, Cecile B. DeMille borrowed spot lights for the film he was making. The actors face was only half lit creating the triangle. His business partner was afraid the exhibitors would only pay half price due to the actors face only being half lit. DeMille then announced it as ‘Rembrandt’ lighting and his business partner was excited as he thought the exhibitors would pay more for using this technique. Since then the technique has been well used around the world to create dramatic portraits.

Why use Rembrandt lighting?

Rembrandt lighting adds an element of drama and psychological depth to the character of your sitter.

It is a great way to create dramatic shadows and harsh contrast. Drawing the eye to the photo is a huge part of photography and is done in many different ways from leading lines to creative editing however these are not always completely transferable to portrait photos, this lighting technique allows the photo to remain looking natural. When it comes to portrait photography you are normally wanting to draw the eye to the eye of the model, by having a darker side of the face it provides a nice contrast to then having the well lit triangle under the eye draws the eye to the one point of light in the darker side.

butterfly-lighting is when there is a shadow below the models nose almost in the shape of a butterfly. It’s often also called paramount or glamour lighting after it’s constant use in high fashion or glamor shoots. It’s main benefits is that it highlights cheekbones and produces shadows on the neck, making the model look more defined.

Butterfly lighting first appeared when it was used for a portrait of Marlene Dietrich, a German silent film actress who became a Hollywood star in the 1930s, was presented on film in a way that gave this look its name. The technique only grew in popularity from there now commonly being used for glamour shoots as it very flattering for the model.

To achieve this style you start by having the model face forward with the reflector at their waist. Then the light source will be placed above the model and the photographer will stand under the light source with the camera. The light source should be at a higher angle than the models face and been angled down onto their face.

It is a great technique as it doesn’t require great lighting and instead the set up of the lighting is more important than the quality of the light.

Lighting can be used in many different ways to achieve many unique photos. Studio lighting in particular is great for portraits. It is often used in many different ways, from flash to a technique called practical lighting which is where the light source is visible in the frame but appears natural light a lamp in a set of a living room. Within portraiture there are many different techniques used to achieve the perfect shot.

The best lens for this type of photography would be a 35mm or a 50mm as both allow for different changes in lighting, while keeping the subject wholly in focus. These lens would work great in a studio situation where there is plenty space, as these lens allow for the subjects shoulders to be in the shot creating a photo that doesn’t seem cut off. The 50mm lens will give a great depth of field even at a low aperture where as the 35mm will give a wider point of view and allow for more of the models body to be in the shot.

Lights

There are many different styles of lights, in studios spot lights and flash heads are mostly commonly used. The cameras are equipped with transmitters that are connected to the flash heads to allow the flash heads to work.

Different lighting sources produce different levels of hard and soft lighting, soft lighting has little to no shadow and the hard lighting produces heavy shadow. To achieve hard lighting a continues light is used like the sun, a flash can also be used as the light is strong and directional. Soft lighting is created by a large light source but at distance to compared the subject so they illuminated rather than lit up. High key/low key lighting is often linked to hard and soft lighting as high key photos are created by using soft lighting and low key photos are created using hard lighting to created a dark contrasting image.

Warm vs Cool lighting

Cool lighting has deeper blue undertones where as the warmer the lighting is the deeper the yellow/orange undertones are. In portrait this is often used to make people appear friendlier or more closed off as the cooler the tone in a photo the more unwelcoming and sterile the photo can seem where as the warmer the tone in a photo the more welcoming and nostalgic the photo can be.

This is my final outcome I haven’t included any photos from my original shoot as I wanted a small selection of the best few shots which happened to be three photos from the second shoot. I chose to contrast the dark and blue tones of the photos with brown wooden frames to also make sure the photos don’t feel too flat on the wall. I placed the two landscape shots next to each other and the portrait one on a wall by itself as the photo is busier with it being a closer cropped shot I didn’t want it to take attention away from the landscape shots.

Comparison to August Sanders Work

These two images in particular and interesting to compare, as they are very ear appropriate with Sander’s work featuring old fashioned bicycles in full suits and my photo which is a motorbike and motorbike jacket and boots. A large part of Sander’s style is having the model have a blank facial expression, which similarly I have asked the model to do in my photo. I also used the same framing ideas while I only had one model which is more common in environmental portraits but I kept to using the rule of thirds and keeping the subject in the middle ground in the depth of field. Something unusual for portrait work is keeping the background in full focus around the subject however due to the style it is very common to and like Sander’s work I kept a slightly cropped out background look to focus in on the subject. Unlike Sanders work I chose to keep my shots in colour as while it was a choice Sander made as colour cameras were common at the time I felt it would take away from the image unless it was a high contrast version but even then I would rather use the colours in the photo to my advantage and help tell the story in the photo and help describe the subject.

Final Image Analysis

This is my favourite image of this project. It’s a particularly strong image compositionally. For example I place the model under the point of the arch as when looking at the photo the first thing that draws your attention is the motorbike and then the castle ruins, by placing the model in the middle of the two I have not only used the rule of thirds to my advantage I have also put the model in natural eyeline when looking between the two major parts of the image. Continuing from this I have used the rocks on the right of the frame to add depth to the image, however by having the rocks out of focus it removes any of the rough texture that could distract from the subject. I chose to use this location because it is very representative of the models hobbies and due to the nature of it and the props used (his motorbike) it is obvious to the viewer what the models interests are and it’s not too complicated to work out some context to the image and learn about the person which is the intention of environmental portraits. By lightening the granite I have pulled out the grey and pink tones, typical in Jersey granite, without making the texture too smooth for the rough rock. To contrast this I darkened the black plastics and jacket to make the subject stand out against the blue sky background framed by the granite.

I took a variety of different shots from different angles and depths. To achieve this I used ether a 70-200mm or a wide angle lens 10-20mm. I have used a colour coding system to make quickly look through the shots and select the ones I want to edit. The green photos are the ones I like and want to potentially edit some, the red are the shots that are repeats or just don’t work, for example they could not be in focus or have a busy background that just doesn’t work for the results I want.

I did a second photo shoot as I felt my first one wasn’t overly telling or interesting. I used the same model but instead of a his work I asked him ‘what is an environment that describes you and your passions?) I got many answers of different hobbies, interests, work and even things like food. However I chose to use the prompt of my motorbike and off – roading. This led to me exploring where we could take the photos over here as there isn’t actually anywhere over here that represents the style of riding he does. I picked Gronez Castle as not only it was the closest to the rocky mountains in Spain etc but he also has a large interest in Jersey’s history so this was a great location to show the models different interests and what makes up his ‘environments’.

These are the settings I used for the three photos below. By using a 70-200mm lens it allowed me to take a range of shots with high quality.

Before

After

I started by using the RAW settings on photoshop, when you upload a RAW file it allows you to make some basic adjustments to the image prior proper editing. This helped bring some colour back to the photo before I changed too much about it.

To complete this edit I made sure to use the dodge and burn tools to add depth to the image, the darker parts, like bricks lacked colour so using the dodge tool brought light onto it and made the image feel more open. I then mixed this with using the dodge tool on the grass and motorbike to draw attention to the subject and making the colours feel more vibrant and true to life.

For this edit I felt it only needed Lightroom editing, so this meant I adjusted the colouring and lighting. I felt it needed the exposure bringing down to reveal the blue sky and sea, this also made the rest of colours less washed out. By then continuing to edit the image by decreasing the whites, blacks and highlights it took away from the over exposed look.

With the final image I edited I chose to mostly just use the RAW settings adjustments as I felt it didn’t need much else as too much editing can over complicate the image and I didn’t want it to take away from the photography style. Overall I’m really happy with the results of this shoot and I think it has produced strong results and that are inspired by August Sander’s work. By editing my best three shots I have now got good final images to presents in a virtual gallery.

Where will I take my photos and why did I pick this location?

For this shoot I have chosen to use someone close to me as I think this allows me a good chance of capturing them well. I have chosen to ask my father to model for this shoot. I have thought about how I would like to capture him and while there are many options I have chosen to take photos of him at work as this is something that is important to him and describes him well. By choosing to follow the most used type of environmental portraiture I will have to make sure I follow the rest for the style well, this includes me making sure the subject is centred and testing if the rule of thirds work for the particular shot.

How will I take my photos in the style of environmental portraits?

To ensure I have followed the classic style of environmental portraiture, I will use an eyelevel angle keeping the camera in Tv settings or full manual to allow me to adjust the lighting within a shot depending on how much natural lighting is available. I will also look to make sure the model is the subject of the photo using the rule of thirds to look at the shot to then cut down on post production editing as it will be a well executed shot in the first place.

This is the contact sheet of my first photoshoot, I have then marked off the ones I feel aren’t the best as featured below.

The lines mark off the shots that I don’t consider to be the best options of the shoot, it also includes ones I don’t feel follow the style of environmental portraits.

Overall there were a few successful shots as I looked for certain elements in the photo. I looked for good lighting, well composed shots and if it fitted the brief of an environmental portrait. I looked for certain elements within the composure of the photos, for example by favouring the shot in which the model had his one of his hands on the desk and one resting on his lap the shot has a more authorial look and also follows the idea of environmental portraits being structured and not an action shot. The shot where the model was still moving his hands looks more like I had just captured a moment rather than composed a planned shot. At the beginning of the shoot I was fairly unaware of what I should ask the model to do so as I found my confidence in the type of picture I wanted the shots improved producing results I can now go onto edit.

August Sanders is a famous photographer who actually started by working in a mine and then working as an assistant for a photographer called Siegen who was also working in the mine at the same time. As he progressed who brought his own equipment and set up his own darkroom before his military service 1897-1899. After his service he started working for Photographische Kunstanstalt in Hungry before becoming a partner then later becoming the sole owner of the company. Later on he left the company and set up a new studio at Durener Strasse. His most famous work began in 1911 when he did his first series of portraits for his work, he aimed to show the differences in society during the Weimar Republic. He then divided the shoot into seven sections ranging from different professions, different classes to homeless people and veterans. Continuing his career he travelled to Sardinia for three months, while he took around 500 photos however he did not write his planned book on his travels. His most famous work continued when his ‘People of our time’ was published, this was a series of 60 photos aiming to describe and show the people of the 20th century. However sadly under Nazi regime his photography plates were seized and destroyed, along with later on his studio being bombed and the a fire wrecking what was left of his work. After the war in 1953 Sander sold 408 photographs of Cologne taken between 1929 and 1939, later on in 1988 they were published in book format, under the title Koln Wie Es War (Cologne as it was). His work has continued to be influential even now inspiring people with his environmental portraiture.

Beggar, 1926 – August Sanders

This is one of my favourite pieces of August Sanders work; just after the end of WW1 he captured a shot of a beggar on the streets. Many people were left without a home and or without an income leaving many people on the street after the devastating effects of WW1.

Within the photo there is not much, however it appears busier than it is due to the lines and patterns. The man is sitting in the centre of the photo with a crutch underneath him and holding his hat out for change. The photo is in black and white as all of Sanders work is as Sander never updated his equipment with the times instead sticking to his original set up. It’s quite a saddening image as it is very solemn and while it is a fairly simple image in its composition it has a high emotional complexity to it. When you first glance at the photo, I didn’t notice the crutch or the hat I assumed it was someone resting or waiting for a train. However as you take a closer look at the shot it becomes clear what is really happening. Sanders used the lines in the natural surroundings to create a busy look to the photo. By having a ‘busy’ background in the photo and around the subject it reflects the subjects daily life of blending into a busy lifestyle of everyone else. The composition of the photo is quite interesting as it isn’t an overly wide angle so there isn’t much foreground or background to the shot but the subject is slightly off centred to the left and in the little foreground there is immediately drawing the viewers eye to him. Harsh lines are prominent throughout the shot as a whole from the wall edge creating a harsh line to the fencing creating repetition both offset by more lines however they are softer and lead to the subject again. Creating this juxtaposition of the harsh world around the subject and the softer, emotive side of the subject is still a person no matter what his circumstances. This is a great example of an environmental portrait by having the subject as the main focus of the photo, providing context about the person by having a common environment of theirs as the background. By having the subject wearing a blank expression it takes away from the falsities that can crop up in photos by wearing different expressions, this instead helps the people look deeper into the photo and understand the correlation between the subject and the surroundings.
Sanders used all natural lighting in a majority of his work not only due to his camera set up but also due to his work being in the subject’s natural environment didn’t allow for easy lighting all the time, in this shot he has balanced the exposure well creating a balanced tonal image. What Sanders has done particularly well with this shot is capturing a 3D scene and transforming it into an emotive, dynamic 2D image. By using the shapes and lines available in the environment it has enhanced the final outcome creating depth in the shot and providing a small background and a feeling that the image extends onwards confusing off the edge of shot from the simple use of the wall further away from the subject.

This is another one of Sanders famous pieces of work, there is not much information available about this shot in-particular. However it is evident that it is a great example of Sanders environmental portrait style. This photo was taken after WW1 (1928) however the effects were still very present. The frame of the photo is mostly filled with the subject an in a white chefs jacket, boots and black trousers. He is holding a large metal bowl that has small patches of lighter grey where the light is reflecting off it. While the chef is holding a spoon in the bowl he is not moving it as it is an environmental portrait he is posed and still. It would be noticeable if he was moving at all due the the nature of Sander’s camera equipment there would be blurring to the image where the movement isn’t captured quick enough to remain clear. The background and foreground of the shot are a complete tonal contrast to the white coat being black with small speckles of white from the grout on the tiled floor to the labels on the above counter cupboards. Having the subject in his professional environment is a great way of capturing an environmental portrait as it would have been where the chef spent a lot of his life. There is a also a connection between our jobs and out personalities and lifestyle. The chef has a neutral expression on his face, however he does not seemed annoyed or put out by the photo instead looks proud. This allows for the photo to be perceived as the man is proud of his job, this could be for many reasons but a large part of this could be that he proud that he could, after the war being able to enjoy his passion again. The more technical side of the photo is that Sander’s has used the space around the chef to provide a stark tonal contrast from the dark background. This draws the viewer to the subject, the chef, and away from the surrounds. However the dark background also makes the viewer curious to what is in it, this gets them to start looking closer to the the subject and where they might be standing in correlation to what he is wearing and if he is holding anything. Following on from that the dark background also helps the image appear more 3D which is a great skill of Sanders work in creating a 3D scene into a 2D photo while keeping the photo form looking flat. Sanders has used the rule of thirds to put the subject in the centre to keep the focus on him. He has also used the lines on the floor to add depth to the photo and provide a feeling of foreground and background. He uses many lines throughout the photo not just the floor, he also has something with a sharp edge and harsh line just behind the soft, unfocused edge on the side of the shot. The photo is filled with smooth looking textures like the subjects jacket and the metal bowl, this reminds me of how pastry chefs work is neat and appears almost perfect when it comes to things like cakes with white icing. Contrasting this is the mess on the floor, this is a great way Sander’s has captured the neatness and how pristine the chefs have to be as well as there work but it is an environment that is not very forgiving.

Newman was a Jewish photographer who created environmental portraits as his main style of photography. Particularly after the war he captured a very famous shot of a man called Krupp. He started working with photography as a medium in 1938 while working in a chain of portrait studios in Philadelphia. It was here he found his love for creating documentary style photos himself. In 1941 his work was featured in it’s first exhibition and he began to produce environmental portraits as they are know today. After moving home due to the war in 1942.1 In 1945 his Philadelphia Museum of Art one-man exhibit, ‘Artists look like this’ was recognised around the world quickly allowing Newman to open his own studio in 1946 also becoming a member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP.) His work grew greatly in popularity as more exhibitions and purchases of his work happened. Over his life time he won many awards and took photos that hoard such strong messages and reasons with what appears to be a simple snapshot portraits that even now his work is world widely famous.

This photo has many different aspects to it as it is a highly emotive, powerful photo. There is a lot of history and tension within the subject of the photo and the photographer which while I don’t find the tension is the main aspect of the photo there is a huge aspect of intimation within the image. Newman purposefully created this by using the lighting and pose of Krupp as he felt it was a great way of portraying Krupp’s true character. It was a unique situation in general as Krupp was a huge part of supporting the Nazi’s with suppling them with weapons and other equipment during WW11 so when Newman a Jewish photographer was asked to take the photo of Krupp he originally declined before then accepting and making it his aim to have a goal of personal revenge against Krupp hence the portraying of his true character from Newman’s composition of the photo. This led to Krupp being furious when he saw the shot but Newman felt satisfied with his accomplishment, ‘a little moment of revenge’ this quickly became one of Newman’s best photos.

Image Analysis

It is an emotional shot, holding a lot of anger and intimidation within it due to the historical context of the shot. Krupp who is the subject of the image is illuminated in an unusual manor by having the lighting rear and the side makes Krupp’s eyes become quite dark and less noticeable making him appear sinister and unfriendly. There are harsh lines though tout the image starting with the two large pillars ether side of the subject framing him with blocky, dark, imposing features, then leading onto the industrial background of the shot has lines of light filtering through the roof. The colours of the image are dark or a rusted orange adding to the feel of danger as it’s not inviting and instead almost forces the viewer to look into Krupp’s eyes which are also dark and not very visible in the shot. Krupp himself had a weathered face from age and Newman highlighted this in his choice of lighting creating deep lines and grooves all over Krupp’s face furthering his appearance of an imposing, harsh character. Newman used perspective to his advantage, by putting Krupp’s o a close depth of field and the rest of the shot has a fairly long depth of field it encourages the viewer to look at Krupp’s and enforces his not necessarily good authority.

Environmental Portrait – 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. They are normally used to reveal something about the subject in the photo particularly in relation to the background. This does not mean it has to be a positive association like the photo Arnold Newman took of Alfried Krupp and the way Newman has framed Krupp to represent the person he is and what he has done.

Typologies – A body of work with a consistent style. Often portrayed in many different forms, some being in a structured group with equal spacing in-between or a particular style in general like the style of environmental portraits. Environmental portraits are often associated with the style of typology as they are always structed images with the same idea of the subject looking into the camera and often centred.

Final Evaluation

I found this project quite testing but very useful, I found I didn’t pay enough attention to the details during the shoot, so this has taught me to be patient and check all the details in a shot. I would take the photos then realise when I went to edit them the lighting was off or the object wasn’t completely centred. It made me look at the finer details within an object as well which is what Walker Evan’s intended in his work, which heavily influenced my work. The lack of background in the shots meant I had to really look at how the photo was composed and get the other elements very accurate to provide a solid, neat photo as if not the shot would be very unimpressive and look unfinished. Overall the project has taught me a lot and I have new skills and ideas can take onto more creative, different photoshoots in the future.

For this project I chose my best shots and put them in a virtual gallery, I chose to place all the shots on one wall as I liked the idea that all the shots taken in the same way would be presented in the same way. By having a single colour background and no frames also takes away from the idea of the presentation being too busy. I chose the shots that I thought were the best after editing, many of them have an off white background so by keeping the gallery wall off white it helps contrast the photos and show off the details which is what this style is all about.