Basic terms and concepts

• Photography is …
• Inverse Square Law
• Color Temperature
– Mixing light sources
– Filters (in camera, light mounted, window mounted)
• Needs of camera / mood of shot / invisible
• 3 point lighting (background, kicker)
– Flat lighting, 2-point?, bounce?
• Typical equipment
– Spot or flood
– Quartz, HSF or LED
– Grid or light stands
 Key to Effective Lighting:
Shadow
• Shadow gives images form, weight, texture,
mood, depth. Also reveals spatial relationships.
3 considerations before lighting
• Key light placement – 180 degrees around
subject
• Quality of light – hard or soft
• Shadow treatment – low key or high key
Try to separate subject
from background
3 results of light hitting object
Typical 3 point lighting diagram
 3 Attributes of Key Light
• Primary source of illumination
• Primary factor of overall exposure
• Determines placement and quality of
shadow
 Quality of Light
• Refers to hard or soft quality of light
• “Pin” or undiffused sources create hard
shadows that fall off sharply (fresnel)
• Soft light is created by using large sources
of diffused light.
• Determined by two attributes
– Large source
– Relatively close to subject
Floor plan of Portrait
Key Light Possibilities
Subject lit from 3:00 Position
Subject lit from 4:00 Position
Subject lit from 5:00 Position
Subject lit from 6:00 Position
Diffused Lighting
 See textbook example
• Catch lights to show proper placement
• Broadlighting: when the key light shines of
the side of the face closest to the camera
• Short lighting: when the key light is on the
side of the face opposite the camera; the
camera is on the fill or shadow side
 Short lighting

• Side of
face
toward
camera
is
shadow
Broad lighting – side of face
toward camera is lit
 Functions of Fill Light
• Fills shadows created by key light
• Does not create new shadow
Adding Fill for Portrait Lighting
 Fill Light
Without Fill With Fill
 Backlight
Hard backlight Soft Backlight
 Background
With Background Without Background
Hard vs. Soft Key Light
Hard Soft
 Relative Distance
of Soft Light Source
Close Far
 Lighting Dark Skin with
Large Sources of Light
Pin Light Source Large Diffused Source
 One Light Setup
Use available Light from existing window
 One-Light Setup
Available Light One-Light Setup
 One-Light Setup
Light directly in front Short Side of Face
 Color Balance
Color Temps Mixing Key light with color
correction
 Warming the Scene
Normal Color Balance Tricking Camera to
Produce Warmer Tones
Using Backlight as Key
Use Large sources for
Specular Reflections
Backlight as Key Creates Form,
Depth, Dynamic Images
 Camera
• Indoor, outdoor, automatic
• Manual vs. automatic (of anything)
• Size of chip
• Camera to subject distance
• Light to subject distance
 Lighting effects
• Silhouette – back lit
 Lighting effects
• Cameo: spot on subject, dark background
 Lighting effects
• Limbo: softly lit (white) background