3 POINT LIGHTING3 POINT LIGHTINGPhotographic Imaging 1Photographic Imaging 1By: Jordan PohleBy: Jordan PohlePeriod 8Period 8

Interview LightingInterview Lighting The concepts covered here are important and will reappear in

many other lighting setups.

Pay attention to how often these concepts reappear. The more you understand them, the easier it will be for you to adapt them as needed in a variety of situations. They will also help you to create your own distinctive lighting style.

Using this interactive player, you can turn on each light in the setup individually to see its effect.

These 4 lights: Key, Fill, Hair, & Edge, form the basics of a well lit portrait. Familiarize yourself with each light and its effect on the whole picture

Window LightingWindow LightingConcepts of contrast and

light angles were often influenced by the light coming in a window without direct light

The north-light window in old photo studios and our modern soft lights attempt to emulate this classic look

KEY LIGHTKEY LIGHTKey Light defined: The primary or

dominant source of light in a shot.

Often suggests an out of frame source

Choice of fixture (hard or soft) and its position will help set the mood

Soft Key LightSoft Key Light The shown Key light is a

very soft Rifa-lite 88 fitted with a 1000-watt bulb and a soft Egg Crate

The cheek closest to the camera has a shadow

Begin to notice how often you see this in movies, television, and photographs.

Full lighting with Soft KeyRifa 88, 1000W Soft lightRifa with Fabric Egg Crate

Simple Light Setups

Hard Key LightHard Key Light

This is an example of a hard Key light, instead of soft. We are using a 250-watt Pro-light.

The transition between the light and dark areas is more dramatic, and you've achieved what is referred to as Rembrandt lighting.

Rembrandt actually experimented with having the main light coming from many directions but this is the look that stuck to his name

While it doesn't always have to be so, it is very common and a safe place to start. It might be so popular because it has a slimming effect.

Pro-light, 250W Focusing Hard light

Full lighting with hard Key

Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan, c. 1658/1660

Key Light TechniquesKey Light Techniques When you practice placing the Key light on your

subject, keep an eye on the shadow it creates from the nose.

The nose shadow is easier to see if you use a hard light but blends more attractively when you a larger soft source.

Now try placing your light so the nose shadow is nearly gone.

Bringing the Key light 'face-on' is effective for lightening the shadows from wrinkles. Used with makeup it is even more effective.

If possible you could move the subject and lights further away from the back wall to allow the spill to fall off.

Another look is what is sometimes called Hatchet lighting. Here the shadow line runs right down the center of the face

Hatchet lighting

Bad nose shadow Reduced nose shadow

Simple Light SetupsSimple Light Setups

Sometimes when power or time limitations are factors, one light will do the work of both Key and Fill.

A second small light from behind to add a little shine to the hair adds a finishing touch..

In this example a 500-watt Omni-light with a nylon umbrella worked well for the single Key / Fill light and a 125-watt L-light is providing the shine on the hair and shoulders.

Don't forget to make the necessary changes in the height of your stand and possibly an exposure change to your camera as you adjust position of the lights.

Single light (Omni-light 500 W) with umbrella, positioned to function as Key light, with enough softness to also act as Fill light.

Single Light Result

Fill LightFill Light

Fill light defined: Fill is used to lighten shadows and control contrast ratios (the ratio of amount of Key to Fill light). Combined with the Key light, Fill light helps define the mood by lighting the shaded areas in a range of intensities. It can vary from none, to a level equaling the Key light.

Fill LightFill Light Fill light aloneRifa 44, 250W Soft light After setting the Key light, you may

find that the darker side of the face is too dark for your tastes.

There are several methods for adding Fill light to reduce the shadows.

We have chosen a Rifa-lite 44 soft light, with a 250-watt bulb, with a soft Egg Crate to control the spill.

This doesn't just apply to lighting faces.

The amount of Fill that is added depends on your taste (or the preference of the person who hired you).

Generally, you can most easily alter the mood of a shot by raising and lowering the intensity of the Fill.

Rifa 44, 250W Soft light

Fill light alone

Fill Light TechniquesFill Light Techniques More commonly, you may begin to

consider light placement positions near the camera to hide the shadows behind the subject

When the Fill is directly over the camera it adds to the Key light's exposure so consider adjusting for it

As with the Key light you could adjust the distance to lessen the intensity as well as by adding scrims or neutral density gels to the light.

A Fill light is usually a soft source so using an umbrella or a softbox is common.

Images A & B to the right show differing levels of Fill light.

A) Lower ratio of Key to Fill lightB) Higher ratio of Key to Fill lightC) Double Nose Shadow

Probably the only wrong way to do Fill is if it adds another set of visible shadows; visible to the camera that is (you only need to worry about what's in your frame).

Image C shows a closer view with a double nose shadow. This is caused by having a Fill light that is almost as strong as the Key

A) Lower ratio of Key to Fill lightB) Higher ratio of Key to Fill lightC) Double Nose Shadow

A

B

C

Reflected Fill LightReflected Fill Light Another method of providing Fill is by

bouncing the Key light off of a reflector In the example shown, the soft Key light

is being reflected. A stippled reflector surface will soften

the reflected light more and give less chance of secondary shadows.

Using a matte white card will provide a very soft reflected fill at close range.

Note: In highly reflective rooms, if your lighting is too flat, you might consider a technique called negative fill. This is often done by hanging a dark cloth or piece of black foamcore on the fill side to prevent stray light from providing too much fill. Experiment with different amounts of fill and see if you can manipulate the effect to change the feel of the lighting. Specular Reflector bouncing Soft

Key light to create FillCloseup detail

Hair LightHair Light

Hair light defined: A light from behind the subject, often weaker than the Key or Fill, aimed at the head & shoulders. It may also called a backlight. It creates a sense of separation between subject and background, and adds highlights & shine to hair, and is often widened to include a subject's shoulders. Working with Hair light gets trickier with receding hairlines, and may be done without in that situation.

Hair Light TechniquesHair Light Techniques Along with the amount of Fill light you use,

you can continue to add finesse to the lighting. Both Hair lights and Edge lights fall into this category.

Traditionally, Hair lights are placed directly opposite the camera

If extreme backlight is what you're after, just try to keep the light far enough back so it doesn't start your subject's hair on fire.

If you are dealing with thinning hair or bald heads, you probably already have enough separation from the background

Hair light aloneRifa 44, 250W Soft light Be careful to keep any light from shining into

the front of the lens, causing lens flare. With the advent of modern cameras there is

less need for the really heavy use of hair light

Hair light aloneRifa 44, 250W Soft light

Edge LightEdge Light

Edge light defined: A light from behind the subject, often weaker than the Key or Fill, is placed to create an edge of definition between subject and background. Similar in practice to Hair light, it is also a form of backlight normally used to define one dark object from another, for example a dark jacket from a similarly dark background.

Edge Light TechniquesEdge Light Techniques Edge lights create subtle defining 'edges',

and line-like highlights If your subject's dark hair or jacket seems

to blend into a similarly dark background you can add an 'edge' to visibly separate them from the background.

To experiment with these effects start with small fixtures and keep an eye on the shadow from the subjects ear.

It is popular to have a light edge along the jaw line.

Try using a small light with an umbrella or with a diffusion gel.

Edge lights are also aimed in the direction of the camera, so be careful to keep any light from shining into the front of the lens, causing lens flare.

Wave your hand in front of the light and see if a shadow falls on the camera.

L-light, 100WEdge light alone

Background LightBackground Light

Background Light defined: Used for lighting the background of a set, as a whole or specific areas. Or for lighting objects in the background of the set that are significant to the image. It also contributes to creating separation between subject and background. Often the function of the light is fulfilled by more than one fixture at a time. It is possible to use multiple background lights.

Background Light TechniquesBackground Light Techniques How you deal with backgrounds depends on

whether it is part of the story or just a neutral setting for your subject.

Either way you may notice the background level is usually down, or less bright than the subject.

For the setup used in the Viewer above, we created a mottled shadow pattern on the background by shining a hard light through a cookaloris (a random pattern cut into wood, foamcore, or black foil).

It was lit by a 250W focusable Pro-light, a hard source

You can try turning off any room lights, or by adding distance between the subject and the background

Setup with cookaloris patternPro-light, 250W Since large broad sources tend to spill on the

background consider using an Egg Crate on any softlights you use

Setup with cookaloris pattern

Pro-light, 250W

Background Light OptionsBackground Light Options Slash Accent

You can 'treat' the background using a slash of light made by putting two barndoors close together on a hard light source.

The image to the left shows a slash created by a focusable Omni-light.

You can mix the slash with general background fill

Coloring the slash with a gel is also a common approach.

Omni-light 500W focusable

Setup with Slash Accent

Background Light OptionsBackground Light Options Highlight Accent

A more practical approach would be to add a highlight to an object in the setting.

In this shot, we used a tiny L-light with 100 Watt lamp directed to make a small pool of light on the flowers and the picture frame.

The hard light character of the lamp created a sharp shadow.

The result looks like it have could come from track lighting or a recessed ceiling light

Accent L-light with 100W lamp

Setup with Highlight

Background Light OptionsBackground Light Options Color Background

A popular technique recently has been to give the background a more obviously treated / theatrical effect.

It provides a contrast of color and feel between the environment and the subject.

In this shot, we added red gel to an Omni-light

Use barn doors on the fixture to trim any spill that may fall on the subject

Omni-light 500W focusable

Setup with Color background