January 24, 2009
Portrait Lighting FundamentalsJeremey Barrett @jeremey [email protected]
The Right Light
✤ The look you want - what are your goals?
✤ Soft?✤ Harsh?✤ Contrasty?✤ Ethereal?✤ Generally portrait lighting is
trying to be soft✤ ...but not always
Qualities of Light
✤ Soft✤ Hard✤ Directional✤ Diffuse✤ Contrasty✤ Flat✤ Natural
Light Sources
✤ Size: bigger = softer✤ Distance: closer = softer✤ Distance: closer = brighter✤ Harder light = more contrast✤ Coverage✤ Angle✤ Spill
The Big Source In The Sky
✤ Small or large?✤ Hard or soft?✤ Time of day✤ Color✤ Diffusing✤ Shadow
Key Technique:Separation
✤ Separate, separate, separate✤ Subject should not blend into
the background✤ Light the background, not
uniformly✤ Gradients are your friends✤ Light the background first!✤ Depth of field✤ Rim lighting
Reverse Engineer
✤ Where is the light coming from?
✤ How hard or soft are the transitions from light to shadow?
✤ How many light sources are there?
Controlling Light
✤ Aperture controls how much of your strobe’s light “gets in”
✤ Shutter speed controls how much of the ambient light “gets in”
✤ Inverse square blah-blah-blah✤ Distance is a powerful tool!✤ Examples: what color is the
background material?