What is studio lighting?

Studio lighting is referring to when a person/photographer uses an ‘artificial’ light course instead of just natural lighting as with artificial lighting you can create the shapes and shadows a lot easier and everything is to your control unlike natural as if its natural lighting from outside then t really depends on your environment and the nature around you at that time and if its indoors and just a room lighting then you really don’t get any variation within that room.

There are three main/common types of studio lighting techniques which all create their own different effects. These are Rembrandt lighting, butterfly lighting and Chiarscuro.

Here is the contact sheet for all of the photos I have taken.

Photoshoot 1 – Rembrandt Triangle

This is the setup we used for the first photoshoot

ISO 100 , Focal Length 50 mm, Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 1/160 sec

Photoshoot 2 – Chiaroscuro + Butterfly Lighting

This is the setup we used for the second photoshoot

ISO 100, Focal Length 53 mm, Aperture f/18, Shutter Speed 1/125 sec

ISO 100 , Focal Length 53 mm, Aperture f/18, Shutter Speed 1/125 sec

Rembrandt lighting, named after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, is a technique within portrait photography which refers to the way of lighting a face so that an upside-down light triangle appears under the eyes of the subject.

Using Rembrandt lighting instantly creates contrast and shadows in a photograph. The main characteristic of this style of lighting is the triangle of light which appears beneath the subject’s eye, used to draw the viewer’s attention to it.

History of Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting was an effect created in the early 20th century in Hollywood by film director Cecil B. DeMille, who introduced spotlights to create more realistic effects of light and shadow into the studio lighting setup. This lighting effect has become widely used in promotional photographs of film stars, because of its ability to show film stars in a dramatic and eye-catching way.

Rembrandt Lighting Setup

Rembrandt lighting is created by positioning the light source at a 40 to 45 degree angle and higher than the subject. Both flashlights and continuous lights are used for this style of lighting. The type of lens used for Rembrandt lighting is 35mm or 50mm. A 50mm lens works nicely for portraits and will give a nice depth of field if you are shooting at a shallow aperture, whilst a 35mm lens will have a wider point of view and is good to fit more of the subject than just the head and shoulders.

For this photoshoot, I took simple, portrait photographs, which I will be using to show multi-exposure through editing.

Photoshoot 1 –

I gathered a variety of different types of lighting in every few photos, such as ; Chiaruscuro, Rembrandt and butterfly lighting. This is to have different area of light to play around with and explore my editing and colour handling.

Photoshoot 2 –

With this second photoshoot, the use of different lighting, would give even more variety of the types of lighting that I had to manipulate.

Edits –

For this edit I was playing around with layers and opacity on my photos. I dragged this photo onto photoshop and duplicated the layers 3 times. Changing the opacity on the original photo to 50%. I slowly enhanced the opacity on each layer from 50% – 60% until I had a mirrored looking edit.

Edit 2 –

I used these two photos to edit together. I wanted to show a contrast between emotions as well as colours and I thought that could be quite powerful.

I edited both photos different ends of the colour wheel to show contrast, this I did in Lightroom-classic. Blue to the sad photo, and red to the angry photo. This is the emphasis the stereotypical emotions and the colours that are subdued to them.

I brought both edited photos from Lightroom Classic and put them in photoshop. I played around with the saturation and vibrancy of both photos getting them to the exact colour that I wanted.

Then placing them on top of each other, I controlled the opacity of the photo on the top bringing it down to 50% so the background went transparent while keeping some of the blue hue on top.

Edit 3 –

For this edit I wanted to do something similar to the first one but making it slightly more difficult, adding more layers and different ideas.

I dragged the first photo into photoshop and flipped it upside down first of all. Then using the eyedrop tool to match the colour, I coloured the background the same grey hue as the photo. After that was done, I dragged the same photo in again, keeping it the correct way up but moving it across so each subject was in opposite thirds of the photo keeping an inch of space between.

I then cut the background from one of the layers to help not show original background on the photo. When the photo looked smooth, I dragged in the second photo on top keeping it the correct way up, then changing the opacity to 50% to show background of the other photo.

Studio lighting, Studio lighting is the use of light in a controlled setting, like a studio. Studio lighting is extremely important because it gives photographers control over how lighting affects / interacts with their models or subject, this control allows the photographer to create visually appealing and consistent images by changing things like brightness, direction and shadow. Studio lighting is key for creating professional looking photos in different types of photography especially in portraiture.

Rembrandt Lighting

Butterfly Lighting

Chiaroscuro Lighting

This is the setup for Chiaroscuro lighting.

What is chiaroscuro lighting?

Chiaroscuro lighting is a technique that uses a strong contrast between light and dark arears to create dramatic effects.

Why use chiaroscuro lighting?

Chiaroscuro lighting is often used to create a sense of drama, mood, and depth in art and photography. it can evoke emotions, add visual interest, and enhance the overall composition of an image. By playing with light and shadow, chiaroscuro lighting can create a captivating and dynamic visual experience.

Chiaroscuro lighting set up;

Examples of Chiaroscuro photos;

Examples I took in the studio;

Chiaroscuro lighting is the name of a lighting technique where half of the models face is in the dark and the rest is well lit, creating a bold contrast between each section of the photo. The background is dark while the model is mostly illumined creating a stark contrast and making use of a low key lighting set up. The name chiaroscuro is Italian for light dark, which is fitting for the technique itself.

Why use Chiaroscuro lighting?

Many people use chiaroscuro lighting because they want harshly contrasted photos, creating detailed, intense portraits. The heavy contrast creates a moody atmospheric feel to the shot. It is also great for drawing the viewers eye into the photo, dragging their gaze around each element and change of lighting. Having the changes in lighting within the shot provides depth to the image which is sometimes tricky with portraits making sure the shot is interesting and of a high quality.

History of Chiaroscuro

The style first became well know when the Baroque painters used it in any paintings like the one above to give it a dramatic flair. It was then more widely used in 20th century cinematography to emphasis spooky scenes or add further dramatic to the piece. It originally appeared during the Renaissance period explaining where the name, chiaroscuro originated from. As time went on the technique became very popular for the making of ‘Film Noir’ which is French for black film. This was used to describe classy Hollywood crime films, particularly those with a look at moral ambiguity.

How to create Chiaroscuro lighting

To create the harsh lighting, you need to have the light like a flash head on a 45 degree angle to the models face, fairly far away. You can also use a reflector like in the above diagram to create the desired lighting. You will also need to use a black background or backlight your photos, to create the look of the model being in contrast to the dark background or blending in. depending which part of the shot you are looking at.

Definition – Rembrandt lighting is a standard lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography and cinematograph. This lighting technique is identified by the triangle that is formed under one eye, (this is known as the Rembrandt Patch).

Some examples of when this lighting is being used:

This lighting is used to create a mysterious or moody portrait, it is mostly used for portraits of subjects that have a more round or full face because it creates a slimming affect, however it can be used on anyone.

By using this type of lighting you instantly create shadows and contrast. The triangle of light, that forms under the eye, also adds more emphasis and helps draw attention.

It originates from when a renowned movie director, Cecil B. Demille coined it in Hollywood in the 20th century.

Setup

The light – You can create this type of lighting by using a single light source and placing it on a 45 degree from your subject and keeping it around 5ft away. The light should also be around 2ft higher than eye level and slightly angled downwards, the lighting needs to hit the side of the subject’s face that is the farthest from the camera.

The lens – When using the camera you should use a 35mm lens if you’d like a wider point of view which will fit more of the subject’s body in the image, and if you’d like to take a portrait and have a nice depth of field you should use a 50mm lens.

Own response to this type of lighting

What is Butterfly lighting?

Butterfly lighting is a popular lighting technique use in portrait photograph. It involves positing the main light source directly in front of the subject and slightly above their eye level. this creates a small, butterfly- shaped shadow under their nose. Butterfly lighting is known for its flattering and soft illumination. as it helps to minimize shadows and highlight the subjects features. its commonly used in beauty and fashion photography to create a glamorous and elegant look.

Why use butterfly lighting?

Butterfly lighting is often used because it creates a flattering and soft illumination. The positioning of the light source helps to minimize shadows, resulting in a glamourous and elegant look. Its commonly used in beauty and fashion photography to enhance he subjects appearance and create a visually appealing image.

From this photo you can see the clear shadow under the nose that gives butterfly lighting its name.

This is the butterfly lighting set up;

Examples of Butterfly lighting photos;

Examples I took in the studio;

what is Rembrandt lighting?

Rembrandt lighting came about in the 20th century and was created by film director Cecil B. DeMille, he did this to created much more realistic effects instead of just having your average studio lighting that was pretty generic. this type of lighting became much more common in films and promotional photographs to make them more interesting and eye catching. In conclusion, this sort of lighting is supposed to make a triangle under the eyes with shadows on the subject in the photo.

why use Rembrandt lighting?

when using Rembrandt lighting you can create an eye catching photo as it can create an image that looks natural but could also look dramatic.

Rembrandt can be used with either hard or soft lighting depending on how the photographer wants to portray the subject in the photo.

hard light

soft light

as shown in these two photos there is always a triangle of shadow being created when using the Rembrandt technique.

how to create Rembrandt lighting:

light- for the lighting you are going to need one source about 45 degrees away from them (about five feet) that’s also higher than them to create the technique.

lens- A 35mm to 55mm is the best range when taking a Rembrandt photo as these provide a nice wider point of view capturing more of the subject or it can be more zoomed capturing more detail of the subject (good depth).

Photos i have created: