Studio Lighting Moodboard:

What is studio lighting and why do we use it?

Studio lighting is about using artificial lights in a controlled space, like a photography studio, to light up a subject in a way that looks good on camera. The main goal is to create the right mood, highlight details, and make sure the subject is well-lit. The key light is the main light that shines on the subject, usually placed at an angle to create depth and highlight features. A fill light is used to soften the shadows created by the key light, while a back light is placed behind the subject to help separate them from the background and make them stand out.

1-Point Lighting:

This is the simplest setup, using a single light source to illuminate the subject. It’s typically placed in front of the subject, usually slightly off to the side to create some shadows and depth. It’s great for creating dramatic, high-contrast images where the subject has strong shadows. However, it can make the image look flat or harsh, so it’s often used for more moody, artistic shots or when you want a very minimalist look.

2-Point Lighting:

This setup uses two lights – typically a key light (the main light) and a fill light (to soften the shadows). The key light is placed at an angle to the subject, while the fill light is positioned opposite to lighten up the shadows created by the key light. It provides a more balanced lighting setup compared to 1-point lighting by reducing harsh shadows. It works well for general portraits, making the subject look natural and evenly lit, while still keeping some dimension.

3-Point Lighting:

This setup uses three lights: the key light, fill light, and a backlight (or rim light). The key light is the main source of light, the fill light softens shadows, and the backlight is placed behind the subject to separate them from the background, giving more depth and highlighting the subject’s outline. It solves the problem of flatness and separation from the background, making the subject look more three-dimensional. The backlight helps create depth by adding a highlight around the subject, giving them definition against the background. This is a versatile and classic lighting setup used for most professional portrait photography, video interviews, and more.

What is Rembrandt lighting, Butterfly lighting, Chiarascuro?

Rembrandt Lighting:

Rembrandt lighting is a technique where the light is placed at a 45-degree angle above and to the side of the subject’s face. This creates a small triangle of light on the cheek opposite the light, while the rest of the face is shadowed. It’s a classic, dramatic look that adds depth and highlights facial features like the cheekbones. This lighting style is often used in portrait photography for a moody, professional feel.

Butterfly Lighting:

Butterfly lighting is when the light is positioned directly above and in front of the subject’s face. This setup creates a butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose, with the rest of the face receiving soft, even light. It’s a very flattering style, making the face look smooth and symmetrical. It’s commonly used in beauty and fashion photography, especially for subjects with high cheekbones.

Chiaroscuro:

Chiaroscuro is an artistic technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create depth and drama. The light is usually focused on one part of the subject, while the rest is in shadow. This technique originated in painting but is also used in photography to create a dramatic, almost theatrical look. The emphasis is on depth, with light and shadow working together to highlight the subject’s form.

What is fill lighting?

Fill lighting is a type of light used to soften or fill in the shadows created by the main light in a lighting setup. Its purpose is to reduce the contrast between light and dark areas on the subject, creating a more even and natural look. Fill light is typically softer and less intense than the key light, so it doesn’t overpower the main light but helps to soften the shadows and add detail to areas that would otherwise be too dark. It’s often placed opposite the key light to balance the lighting and prevent the subject from appearing too harsh or overly dramatic.

Studio portrait experiments:

Editing:

Before:

I think this is one of my best photos because it really captures the feel of chiaroscuro lighting. The way the light and shadows play off each other gives the photo a lot of depth and makes it stand out.

After:

For editing, I aimed to create a more distinctive look by incorporating chiaroscuro lighting to emphasize dramatic contrasts between light and shadow. To enhance this effect, I adjusted the texture and clarity, focusing on amplifying the fine details and sharpness. This approach added depth and dimension to the image, making the lighting contrasts more pronounced and visually striking.

Before:

This one really has that Rembrandt lighting vibe, especially with the triangle of light on the cheek. It’s just like the way rembrandt lit his subjects, with one side of the face lit up and the other in shadow, giving it a cool depth.

After:

Before:

In this photo, I used the technique of butterfly lighting, which I believe resembles the lighting effect the most. Butterfly lighting, is a portrait lighting setup that creates a distinctive shadow under the subject’s nose, resembling a butterfly shape. This look is achieved by placing the light source directly above and slightly in front of the subject, typically at a 45-degree angle.

After:

Before:

In this photo, the lighting looks like it’s using gels, which are colored filters placed over lights. This is a common trick in photography to create cool color effects. In this case, you can see the contrast between the reddish light on one side of the face and the blueish light on the other. The warm red and cool blue lights are coming from different light sources with colored gels on them, creating a sharp difference that makes the face stand out more.

After:

Artist reference:

John Rankin

John Rankin Waddell, known as Rankin, is a British photographer and director who has made a name for himself with his distinctive, often bold, style. He’s famous for his striking portraits of some of the world’s biggest celebrities, including Kate Moss, Madonna, David Bowie, and even Queen Elizabeth II. Rankin’s photography is known for its raw, edgy feel. He doesn’t just take a picture, he creates a moment that feels powerful and full of emotion. Whether he’s capturing a fashion model or a global icon, Rankin’s portraits often reveal something deeper about his subjects. He’s not afraid to push boundaries, using intense lighting and dramatic angles to create images that feel fresh and unexpected.

In this image, you can see how the hand reaching toward the camera helps create a sense of depth. The hand in the front is big and draws your attention, making it feel like it’s right there in front of you. This makes the rest of the scene, like the person and the background, seem farther away. The way the hand is positioned gives the photo a sense of space. It feels like there’s more to the scene than just a flat image. The hand being close to the camera creates a kind of depth, while the person and the background fade into the distance.

My edits relating to the artist:

Before:

After:

Final images:

WHAT IS STUDIO LIGHTING ?

studio lighting in photography happens when a photographer uses an artificial light source to either add to the light or to completely light their photograph. However there are two types of studio lighting them being continues lighting and strobe lighting.

CONTINUES LIGHTING:

Continues lighting is a artificial light that its always illuminating your subject as long as your turn it on. They don’t flash on and off as you take your pictures, instead they remain bright throughout the shoot

STROBE LIGHTING:

Strobe Lighting is used to create a short burst of light. The light created is much brighter and more powerful and the burst much shorter than the king found when using traditional flash.

___________________________________________________________________1-2-3 LIGHT SET UPS

1 POINT LIGHT SETUP

It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on how your picture will turn out. It is placed to one side of the camera/ subject so that this side will be well illuminated and the other side with some shadow.

2 POINT LIGHT SETUP

The fill light is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less brighter than the key. To achieve this softer look you can move the light further away from the camera and the subject or change the intensity setting on your light if you have that possibility.

3 POINT LIGHT SETUP

The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from rear. The back light is the light that makes your shoot stand out. Rather than providing direct lighting ( like the key and fill ) its purpose is to give definition and subtle highlights around the subject. If setup correctly there should be a subtle rim of light. This effect helps to separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

___________________________________________________________________

REMBRANT LIGHTING

My attempt

BUTTERFLY LIGHTING

Butterfly lighting is a lighting patter used in portrait photography where the key light is placed above and pointing down on the subject’s face. This creates an interesting shadow between the nose and the chin. Butterfly lighting is one of the most flattering lighting techniques for sculpting facial features.

CHIAROSCURO LIGHTING

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term used to describe the technique of using light and dark in artwork, particularly a painting. This lighting creates highlights and shadows to draw attention to the subject. It originally comes from Re naissance art movement, and combines the Italian words ” chiaro” meaning ” clear” or “bright”, and “oscuro” meaning “obscure” or “dark”. It refers to dramatic effect experience when using contrasting areas of light and dark in a visual piece.

What is studio lighting?

studio lighting is artificial lighting that photographers use to add to the light already there

Why do we use studio lighting?

Many photographers prefer to use studio lighting so they can have complete control over where the shadows go and can also control the temperature of the light.

One Point lighting

One point lighting portraits are used to capture images where one side of the models face is more exposed than the other. (one side has the light on it and the other side is dark) However they aren’t as harsh as split light photo there are more natural where one side is darker but you are still able to see the other side of their face.

Photoshoot 1 – one point lighting

edited images

I really like this image as I think the contrast with the black background. As well as it is a good example of split lighting (when half the face is illuminated and the other is dark) Another part of this image that I like is the light parts on the jacket also make good contrast compared to the otherwise dark image.

Something I like about this image is that the darkness of the right side of his face and neck against the bright chrome of the background. As well as how one side of the background looks as if it has warm lighting, then the other side has cool tone lighting.

Analysis of my Image

This is image is taken using a digital camera and the genre of this photography is portraiture.

The mise-en-scene presents the portrait photo of a boy sat on a chair. The tone of this image is pretty dark, However you could also argue that the tone of the image also quite bright ad there is sort of a half and half going on in this image. The use of light in this image is very harsh, cold artificial lighting as we were in the studio with specific lighting set up. The focus distance is short as it is a close up photo and the depth of field is large as everything is in focus. The  leading lines of the images would be the lightness of his face and side of his jacket against the black background.

I believe the ISO is 100 as everything is in focus and not grainy. I believe that the shutter speed is 1000 as everything is clear.

Rembrandt lighting

Rembrandt lighting is a commonly used technique in studio photography to contrast Butterfly lighting. All you need is one or two lights and one reflector. It became popular due to producing natural looking images with minimal equipment.

To create this lighting the “main light” is placed high and and to the side, roughly 45 degrees to the side of the model. T he reflector is placed on the other side of the model at half height facing it at an angle to the camera, which helps illuminate the opposite side of the face.

An easy way to identify if an image has Rembrandt lighting is on the darker side of the face there will be a triangle sort of shape illuminated on their cheek

image from Google

Examples of Rembrandt lighting

images from Google

Why use Rembrandt Lighting?

When using Rembrandt lighting you are able to instantly create contrast and depth in an image, as well as added a bit of moody drama and psychological depth.

It is a very effective way of lighting as it is used as a device to draw the viewer to the eye of the subject. As when doing portraits the eyes and usually always the main focus of the image. The triangle of light underneath the eye draws the viewers eyes to meet the focal point of the image and highlights the significance of the eyes in the portrait.

Rembrandt

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born July 15 1606, was a Golden Age Dutch painter, printmaker and draughtsmen, and is generally considered one of the best visual artists of history Western art. Over his time Rembrandt created an estimated 300 paintings and 2000 etchings.

Rembrandt’s 17th century work depicted many different genres, such as portraits, self portraits, landscapes, biblical and mythological themes and historical scenes.

At the end of 1631, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, a city rapidly expanding as the business and trade capital. He began to practice as a professional portraitist for the first time in which he had great success. During 1634 Rembrandt became a citizen of Amsterdam and a member of the local guild of painters as well as acquiring a number of students.

photoshoot

edited images

ISO 100, 32mm, F/10, 1/125sec

I decided to make these images monochrome as I thought it would make them more dramatic. I think this is one of the best images from the bunch as the triangle under the eye is very clear. Something I like about this image is the darkness from the hood of his jumper compared to the slightly over exposed side of his face.

these are all the things on light room classic that I changed to edit this image.

Analysis of my image

This is image is taken using a digital camera and the genre of this photography is portraiture.

The mise-en-scene presents the portrait photo of a boy sat on a chair. The tone of this image is fairly light, However you could also argue that the tone of the image can be a bit dark based on all the shadows on the left side of his face. The use of light in this image is very soft, cold artificial lighting as we were in the studio with specific lighting set up. The focus distance is short as it is a close up photo and the depth of field is large as everything is in focus. The leading lines of the images would be the darkness of his face and side of his jacket against the light background.

I believe the ISO is 100 as everything is in focus and not grainy. I believe that the shutter speed is 1000 as everything is clear.

Butterfly lighting

Butterfly lighting in used in a studio setting, and is when the main light is set up in front and above the model you are photographing. The name refers to the “butterfly”-shaped shadow seen under the nose, although in a lot of images the shadow is not strongly defined, it just depends on the strength and intensity of the light.

Example of a butterfly lighting with the “Butterfly” shadow defined.

Butterfly lighting tends to be a popular lighting set up due to the fact it is usually face slimming as shadows are created on both sides of the face which emphasizes the facial features such as the cheekbones and nose in a photogenic way.

Why use butterfly lighting?

Reasons to pick this lighting pattern are that it is versatile, is easy to set up, doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment, and creates a natural look

Examples of butterfly lighting

George Hurrell

George Edward Hurrell was known for using butterfly lighting in his images in the glamour of Hollywood during the 1930s and 40s. He was born June 1st 1904 and began his life in Ohio.

In the late 1920s he was introduced to famous Hollywood actor Ramon Novarro for who he took a series of portraits. Actor Ramon Novarro was so impressed with Hurrell’s work he then went and told some of the other famous stars he was friends with about the amazing work, and this became the start of how Hurrell became the photographer for the stars, where eventually he opened a studio in LA.

Continuing in the late 1920’s after his career took off he signed a contract with MGM and he became the head of portrait photography department. However he then left MGM in 1932 due to differences with the head of publicity.

Hurrell analysis

photoshoot

edited images

I think this image is a good example to butterfly lighting as you can see the butterfly shape under the nose and the shadows on the side of the face, and especially under the chin which shows the directional light from above.

To edit this image I decided it looked better monochrome, I tried to edit it to emphasize the shadows that were being created by the lighting Here’s everything I changed on light room classic to edit this image

photoshop experimentation

To create this image in photoshop firstly I selected the girl in the image and copy and pasted her and then clicked Ctrl T on my new layer with the copied girl and turned down the opacity and the interpolation tool to flip the image.

This is what I used to flip the image

Two-point lighting

Two-point lighting is when two different light sources are used to illuminate the model. They’re often at an angle from the model and either side of the camera.

Two-point lighting enhances the visual appeal of interviews by using two light sources that create depth and dimension on the models face. Using two lights allows the photographer to have more flexibility and creativity compared to one light.

There is many different lighting techniques you can do with two-point lighting such as soft side lighting and fill which looks like this

Example of soft side lighting and fill – using 2-point lighting

For this you will need two lights with reflectors positioned either side of the model, the light reflects off the walls of the studio creating softer light.

soft side lighting and fill lighting set up.

Another type of 2 point lighting you can use is the deep umbrella technique which looks a little something like this:

To create this lighting you need two lights with the key light being a focus umbrella, which produces a very versatile like used especially in beauty work and fashion photography.

Example of deep umbrella lighting set up

examples of 2 point lighting

Images from google

These are good examples of basic two-point lighting, as the model is looking straight through the camera and you can see that most if not all of the face is illuminated, with just a few shadows on the side of their face.

Annie Leibovitz

Images by Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer, best known for her portraits of celebrity’s. And she is the first women to have her images featured in the Washington National portrait gallery. In 1980 – 2000 Annie Leibovitz tried a new way of lighting her portraits and use of bold colours got her a position with Vanity Fair Magazine in 1983, whereas in 1998 Leibovitz started regularly working for Vogue.

Leibovitz started out her career as a photographer for the Rolling Stone magazine polaroid image of John Lennon that was taken only 5 hours before he was killed is now considered one of Rolling stone’s magazine’s most famous covers.

Lebovitz Analysis

photoshoot + coloured gels

edited images 2 point lighting

ISO 100, 27mm, f/10, 1/250sec

To edit this image I changed things such as the temperature and the tint of the image as I wanted it to have a slightly more of warmer temperature and green sort of tint, Something I think I could have done a bit better whilst editing this image perhaps crop it a bit as there is rather a lot of blank space of the background.

Here is the image cropped:

Overall, I think this photoshoot was fairly successful, as many of the photos displayed two-point lighting well as you can clearly see hat both sides of the face are illuminated, However I would enjoy experimenting with the other types of two-point lighting that I said in the above.

edited images coloured gels

Personally, I really enjoyed using the coloured gels in the photoshoot as it a simple was to introduce a pop of colour into a what could be called “traditional portrait” A reason I particularly like them is that I really enjoy ‘traditional’ photographer however I do love involving colour where I can and this was a good blend of the two for me. I would love to do this again.

This image is one of my favourites from the shoot as the colours from the lights split almost perfectly down the middle of his face. As well as I think the blue light really compliments the tone of his face.

Virtual Gallery

Studio lighting is a popular choice for portrait photographers who want complete control over their lighting environment. In a studio setting, photographers can use a variety of lights, such as soft boxes, umbrellas, and beauty dishes, to create the perfect lighting setup for their subject.

Studio lighting in photography happens when a photographer uses an artificial light source to either add to the light that’s already there, or to completely light their photograph. Setups can range from using a single flash that you mount onto your camera, to multiple off-camera lights.

difference between 1-2-3 point lighting

point 1 – key light

usually the strongest point of light and most influence within the area, places to on side of camera or subject.

point 2 – fill light

if are to lights the more stronger one is your key light and the less one is your fill light, which is usually places the opposite side of the key light, which is used to full the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key

point 3 – back light

the third light in your kit after setting up the key and fill will become the back light which is also known as the rim, hair, or shoulder light.

The back light is normally placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear.

The back light is the light that makes your shot ‘pop’. Rather than providing direct lighting, like the key and fill, its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject’s outlines. If setup correctly there should be a subtle rim of light around your subject. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

additional lighting – 4 point light setup

If there is a fourth light available to you then it would become your background or environment light.

The background light is placed behind the subject. Unlike the other three lights, which illuminate foreground elements, it illuminates background elements, like walls or outdoor scenery. This technique can be used to eliminate shadows cast by foreground elements onto the background, or to draw more attention to the background.

This setup would then typically become known as a four point lighting setup.

Rembrandt lighting

is a classic photographic and cinematic technique that creates a dramatic yet natural look by using a single light source positioned at 45-degree angle to the subject and slightly above eye level. it is characterized by a distinct triangle of light on the shadowed cheek, under eye, formed by the interplay of light and shadow. this high contrast effect adds depth and dimension, emphasizing facial features. commonly used in portrait photography and dramatic scenes, Rembrandt lighting evokes a sense of mystery and intensity, making it a popular choice of creating moody, compelling visuals.

Butterfly lighting

is a portrait lighting technique characterized by a small, butterfly shaped shadow directly under the subjects nose. it is achieved by pacing a single light source above and directly in front of the subject, normally a a 30 – 45 decree angle. this setup highlights the cheek bones and creates a smooth, flattering look, making it popular for beauty, glamor and headshot photography.

Chiaroscuro

is an artistic technique that uses a strong contrasts between light and shadow to create sense of depth, volume and drama. originating in the renaissance it was formally used by artists like Caravaggio and Rembrandt to emphasize three dimensional forms and evoke mood. in visual arts, chiaroscuro highlights specific areas of a subject while leaving others in shadow, gilding the viewers focus and enhancing the emotional intensity of the sense. this technique is also widely applied in photography and cinematography for dramatic lighting effects.

fill lighting

A fill light is a the style of lighting which is often used in theatre and film as well as in photography. Often used as part of a three point lighting set up, fill lighting is utilised in order to light up the shadowed parts of your setting – this creates less contrast where you do not want it.

raw photos

best raw photos –

yellow shows chiaroscuro and red is Rembrandt and green shows butterfly

Rembrandt –

in this photo its shows the light technique of Rembrandt lighting, and with in this photo a reflector is used to the shadows don’t completely block out half of the face. Also even with the glasses u can see the triangle and how it dose not effect the lighting.

same for this one but its more obvious that’s its Rembrandt lighting, as can see the triangle more so. And the light was moved more so closer to the camera, like half way between the model and camera.

more Rembrandt raw photos

chiaroscuro –

for this photo you can see that its lighting represents more so like Chiaroscuro, this is shown by that half of the face is lit up and the other half is shadow but u can still see the shadow side cause a reflector has been used.

similar for this photos that it represents chiaroscuro, this is achieved by the light to be beside the model, so that the light on the face is only on one side. and again the reflector is used so that the shadow side of the face is still visible.

more chiaroscuro raw photos

butterfly –

within this photo you can kinder see the shadow under the nose and the lighting is focused above the subject to give this effect.

Editing –

chiaroscuro –

other experiments –

on this photo i edited it into black and white and made the brightness on one side quite bright and on the other side the shadows so that it blends into the background.

Rembrandt –

all edited main photos close up –

tried different experiments –

with this photo I cropped it to seem closer and focused more on the features of the subject.

for this photo I cropped it so was more background and to make photo seem more ominous and makes subject seem really small.

for this photo I tried to see what it would look like in black and white.

Butterfly –

for this I cropped the photo so was made to seem like the subject is really small

with this photo I edited the background so it get rid of the texture and focused on only the subject, made it to a low exposure.

with this photo I edited it in black and white, which made the butterfly effect more obvious.

with in this photo its similar to the last but some of the texture has been taken away.

colour gel experiments

raw photos –

edited experiment’s –

final photos –

i chose these photos because

visual gallery –

using this virtual gallery made me realize that I could change from horizontal to vertical, which vertical shows the top photos to be hiding her emotion’s and the top one showing her screaming out what’s been hiding inside. from doing this improves the took of the display of the photos in the gallery.

Contact Sheet

Image Selection

Above you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out my worst ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good.

Image Editing

This is one example of Rembrandt lighting due to a triangle present under the left cheek, Which resembles Rembrandt lighting. In this photo there is an intense shadow. On the right of the image you can see all I have done is makes some slight adjustments to the texture and contrast and many other things like that.

This is the same image cropped due to lots of negative space on the left side, which will create an unbalanced photo and I decided to crop the image to centre the subject a bit more.

This is the same photo that has been cropped and slightly edited to enhance the Rembrandt lighting more. By being edited the image looks much more clearer.

Contact Sheet

This is my contact sheet for Rembrandt lighting.

Image Selection

Above you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out my worst ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good.

Original Image

This is one example of Rembrandt lighting due to a triangle present under the left cheek, Which resembles Rembrandt lighting. In this photo there is an intense shadow. On the right of the image you can see all I have done is makes some slight adjustments to the texture and other things like that.

Black and White Image

This is the same image cropped due to lots of negative space on the left side, which will create an unbalanced photo and Next you can see I decided to crop the image to centre the subject a bit more.

This is the final black and white image. This is the same photo that has been cropped and slightly edited to enhance the Rembrandt lighting slightly more. By being edited the image looks much more clearer and concise .

Butterfly Lighting

Contact Sheet

Image Selection

Above you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out my worst ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good.

Image Editing

I have done some slight editing to enhance the contrast, texture ,whites and black.

Next ,I’ve decide to crop the image to decrease the negative space on either side , so the photo can looked balanced . I have also cropped the image make the subject more centred.

Final Outcome

Black and White

This is the same image cropped due to lots of negative space on the left side, which will create an unbalanced photo. Next you can see I decided to crop the image to centre the subject a bit more.

Final Photo with an Evaluation

This is the final black and white image. This is the same photo that has been cropped and slightly edited to enhance the butterfly lighting slightly more. The butterfly lighting is present under the frame of her glasses . By being edited the image looks much more clearer and concise .

Spilt Lighting

Image Editing

In this photo, I have some slight editing. I have edited the texture, highlights, black and the shadows.

I have cropped the image due to there being to much negative space on the left side .I have done this because it might ruin the photo and the photo will be unbalanced. I also cropped it to ,make the subject much more centred.

Studio Lighting

Studio lighting setups give photographers the flexibility to create different looks and lighting effects in their photos. These setups have a big impact on the style and mood of images allowing the desired effects to be created. Ambient or general lighting is a necessary part of any good lighting plan because it provides an overall glow to a room, creating enough light for to move around comfortably and safely. Accent lighting creates a focal point, building upon the ambient lighting of a room by adding dimension while it can be used to draw attention to a feature. Task lighting can be provided by a variety of different sources allowing the lighting to be adjusted for a work space or chosen area. A fill light may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene and record the same amount of detail typically seen by eye.

Studio Photos

With my example photos of attempting to achieve two photography techniques, I photographed my subjects against a black background to make the outcomes more dynamic with the shadows from the artificial lighting creating visual effects on their faces as they appear to be sinking into the background void. For the Rembrandt lighting, I moved the light bank around horizontally until I was able to see a triangle of light appear on the cheek of the model. Following a similar method for my chiaroscuro photos, I directed the subject to turn her head to one side slightly to further emphasise the split lighting with one side in heavy shadow with the other in light. I photographed the subjects at a medium close up distance from the shoulders up to highlight the effects of the lighting against them.

Butterfly Lighting Photos

I took these photographs on a white background with a bright light positioned high above the subject to bring attention to her face and the shadows forming on it, especially focusing on shadows under the nose. I took a variety of differently framed photos with the model in multiple positions to show my understanding of the technique while bringing diversity to the collection of pictures.

Edited Photographs

I decided to edit my photos in black and white while also noticeably heightening the contrast of the whole picture. I did this in order to highlight the shadows in the original photographs by making them more defined and dark. This makes the photos generally more effective as it brings attention to tone and composition.

Colour Gel Experiments

Cindy Sherman:

• Portrayal of gender in media

• montage

Claude Cahun:

• Adopting various identities

Clare Rae

• Figurative environment

 The Human Sculpture/Performance Selfie

Rather than taking a straightforward self-portrait, some artists have experimented with transforming themselves (and others) into sculptures. 

Erwin Wurm – One Minute Sculpture

Francesca Woodman

• Long exposure
• Movement
• Memories

Photograph moving subjects to create blurred, painterly forms, as in these examples by Mirjam Appelhof:

• Long exposure
• Movement
• Memories
• Transience

Other examples of slow shutter speed

Morath & Saul Steinberg – the ‘Mask’ series

• Disguise

Designer Francesca Lombardi created these enigmatic origami animal masks for photographer Giacomo Favilla’s series called “One Of Us.”

Ralph Eugene Meetyard

The Mask Selfie

rwin Blumenfeld – Self-Portrait with mask, New York, ca 1958

Student Mask response:

Nikita Pirogov

• Juxtaposition – using a second photography to communicate something about the person in the portrait

Alicja Brodowicz

• Juxtaposition
• Body / Natural Forms

 Gianfranco Meloni:  

 Alban Grosdidier

• Under Water
• Convey feelings of drowning under pressure

Wes Naman – distortion, challenging beauty norms

Unknown photographer / Noor+

Capture the same scene at different times, as in this photography series by Clarisse d’Arcimoles:

Create a complex ‘unrealistic’ setting and photograph it, as in this composition by Cerise Doucède:

Monty Milburn

Theo Acwroth

Danny Evans – Project on skaters from Jersey

Pete Thompson

Rob Hammer- Basketball culture

Studio Ideas:

Backlighting

Interesting shadows / lighting

CREATIVE EDITING IDEAS:….

Combine multiple exposures to create the illusion of repeated objects, like these creative compositions by Lera:

Digitally draw over photographs, as in these portraits by May Xiong:

Cut through photographs to expose other layers of photographs below, as in these images by Lucas Simões:

Create layered handmade collages, like these works by Damien Blottière:

Photograph scenes through small gaps or holes, as in these photographs by Reina Takahashi:

Maurizio Anzeri: 

‘Fragments’ – Link to photographer website

David Hockney

• Distort

Christoffer Relander

• Double exposure
• Express emotion

Sakir Yildirim

What is studio lighting?

Studio lighting is the use of artificial lighting in order to create a mood or atmosphere by adding to the light that’s already there.

REMBRANDT LIGHTING

Who was Rembrandt?

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn otherwise just known as Rembrandt was a dutch painter born in July 15, 1606, Leiden, Netherlands , he was known to be an incredible visual artist and is recognised for his work in regards to lighting

Definition + what you will need

• achieved using one light and a reflector
• characterised by an area of the face that is illuminated to appear as though it is an upside down triangle under the eye

How to achieve

‘Normally, the key light is placed high and to one side at the front, and the fill light or a reflector is placed half-height and on the other side at the front, set to about half the power of the key light, with the subject, if facing at an angle to the camera, with the key light illuminating the far side of the face. The key in Rembrandt lighting is creating the triangle or diamond shape of light underneath the eye. 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’

– Wikipedia

Example

BUTTERFLY LIGHTING

Definition

‘Butterfly lighting is a lighting pattern where the light source is placed slightly above and centre on the face of the subject. You may also see this technique referred to as paramount lighting. When discussing butterfly lighting, we often focus on the tell-tale sign: The shadow under the nose with a butterfly shape.’

You will need:

• A key light
• Flashes and triggers
• Modifiers
• Reflector

How to achieve

Butterfly lighting setups are simple. In its purest form, it’s a single source (key light) directly in line with the subject’s face and the camera. If the shadows are a little too deep, a reflector can be placed below the subject to bounce light back up into the face. 

– Wikipedia

Example

CHIAROSCURO

Definition

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which translates as light-dark, and refers to the balance and pattern of light and shade in a painting or drawing.

Example

In order to get the most effective lighting and the best photos, i planned to use a studio that had access to different back drops (one white one black) and a plethora of lights , flash lights ,ring lights and more.

I planned to capture split lighting and different coloured lighting and possibly explore rebrand lighting

inspiration

Here is my selection of images from a total of three photoshoots , in each photoshoot i used different models to experiment with how light hits different structures and features on each face

I then took my preferred images and edited them to intensify the lighting

With this image , i cropped the photo to make the subject more central and eye catching , i changed the image to black and white and altered the exposure , contrast , shadows etc. Then i created a ‘mask’ over the eye and increased exposure and contrast to make the iris stand out giving the image a better focus point.

Once again i cropped the image to centralise the subject , i created a mask over the eyes and eyebrows to make them more distinct and then increased exposure and contrast , i decided not to overly edit this image as i didn’t want to take away from the natural context of the contrasting skin

I wanted to keep this image uncropped to explore the idea of negative space , i left the background dark to leave the subject undefined i then adjusted the saturation and exposure

For this image i tried to capture contrasting subjects in the same image without using much editing so i positioned two lights facing two people to make it appear as though its two different environments , i then enhanced the colours in editing and cropped the image

Studio lighting refers to how a light source (typically artificial), illuminates the subject that is being photographed in a studio environment. It is often used to change aspects of the photograph such as clarity, tone and saturation to create an accurate rendition of the scene.

1-Point Lighting

If you only have one light available to you then this will become your key light. This is the principal (and most important) light in the setup, as it illuminates the subject within your shot.

It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.

2-Point Lighting

If you have two lights in your kit then the second light after setting up your key light will be your fill light.

This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key (up to half the intensity/brightness of the key). To achieve this, you could move the light further away or use the intensity settings on your lights if you have some.

3-Point Lighting

The third light after setting up the key and fill will become the back light which is placed behind the subject and lights them from the rear.

Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject’s outlines. If setup correctly there should be a subtle rim of light around the subject. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting results in one half of the subject’s face is fully illuminated, while the other half is in partial shadow (similar to chiarascuro/split). What differs when comparing this to other methods of lighting is the presence of a small inverted triangle of light below the subject’s eye, usually along the cheek, which is a result of the lighting setup. For perfect execution of this type of lighting, the triangle of light shadow must be no wider than the length of the eye, and no longer than the subject’s nose.

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.

Butterfly Lighting

Butterfly lighting is a basic and popular lighting technique in which the main light is above and in light with the subject’s face and the camera.

A clear sign of butterfly lighting being used is the shadow under the nose with a butterfly shape that is created as a result of the lighting.

In some images, the butterfly shape created is more subtle (like the second image above) but in others the position and intensity of the lighting can be altered to make it more noticeable and this is used to highlight cheekbones and create shadows under them as well as under the neck – which makes the model look thinner. 

Chiarascuro/Split Lighting

Chiarascuro literally translates to “light/dark”, and refers to a technique where a light source is shone onto a side of the subject’s face, juxtaposing light and dark tones due to half of their face being illuminated and the other half being darker and more coated in shadow. It shares many similarities with Rembrandt lighting, but without the triangle cast on the subject’s cheek.

Images captured using chiarascuro lighting typically aim to create visually intriguing pictures with a strong sense of depth and mood. A soft second light can be shone on the darker side of the face to alter how dark the shadows are which can be used to strengthen/weaken the contrast between light and dark tones.

Photoshoot Plan + Contact Sheet

After researching different types of lighting in a studio environment, I then decided to try and capture a wide variety of portraits (e.g. head shots, full body etc) showcasing these lighting techniques and my understanding of them.

After the first two sessions in the studio, I imported my photos into Lightroom and colour coded them as well as star rated them to go through them and see which ones I found most effective – these were typically the ones where I managed to make better use of chiarascuro or Rembrandt lighting which added a gloomy feel to the images.

My Best Chiarascuro/Split Images

I first tried experimenting with trying to achieve a chiarascuro effect by adjusting the position of my main light to see how it would affect the light and shadows created on Finn’s face.

In the images above, I experimented with different positions and strengths of light to see how it would affect the amount of shadow on the side of Finn’s face and manipulated this to create some images I find effective. Although some are extremely underexposed, I can later adjust brightness and contrast in editing to fix this.

I then tried adding a fill light and adjusting its strengths to decrease the amounts of shadow present as well as trying different poses standing/sitting to see what I liked most.

My Best Rembrandt Images

I then tried replicating Rembrandt lighting by trying first setting up lighting to achieve a chiarascuro effect and then moving the position of the light and trying different angles to achieve the triangle under the subject’s eye.

The images above are some where I nearly managed to achieve this effect, but the position of the subject and/or the positioning of the studio lights wasn’t optimal for this so I instead ended up with streaks of light in the darker side of Finn’s face just under the eye, but not in a triangular form.

After lots of experimenting with different positions and strengths of lights I was able to come closer to achieving the triangle under the eye. Although I wasn’t able to perfectly replicate a triangle, the light is much more visible and creates a focal point amidst the shadow covering his face.

This was my best result from all my experimenting with Rembrandt, clearly showing streaks of light under Finn’s eye on the darker half of their face although the light isn’t a perfect triangle.

My Best Butterfly Images

To try and achieve the butterfly lighting effect, I positioned the light directly in front of my subject high up pointing down so there would be a slight shadow cost under the nose.

I first tried using this technique with a half body composition, and in both photos the shadow under the nose is clearly visible although in the second one Finn’s head being leaned forward created more shadow around the eye area as well.

I then tried using this technique with a head and shoulders shot so it’s more zoomed in on the face, and this worked very effectively since you can now more clearly see the shadow under the nose as well as the softer shadows around and below the eyes.

Image Manipulation/Experimentation

After experimenting in the studio I took some of my best photos and made minor tweaks to them in Lightroom such as cropping them to improve composition and changing the brightness to explore how it affects the lighting and shadows as well as the intention behind the image.

I really liked how these images turned out since after adjusting brightness and contrast it still clearly displays different lighting techniques without being too underexposed or overexposed, and by experimenting with altering the composition via cropping I was able to drastically change some of my images whilst still keeping them interesting and dramatic (such as the bottom right image, which was originally a full body shot that has been zoomed in to turn it into more of a head shot).

I then experimented with making the images black and white, and found that it really adds to the moody atmosphere initially created with chiarascuro and Rembrandt lighting which helps to build further on the intention behind my photos.

Final Photos

After experimenting with image editing, I decided to keep all the images black and white since I like the dramatic and moody atmosphere it creates when combined with the shadows from the lighting techniques. I also like how the photos are laid out since the top 3 shows a half body butterfly shot in between two head shots, and the bottom three showing different poses and movements as well as having the Rembrandt clearly present in the middle.

Presentation in Artsteps