Nine stunning portrait-lighting patterns for your photography.
If you’re ready to create portraits that flatter your subjects and make your photography stand out, then this guide to portrait lighting is for you.
Portrait photography is all about creating quality images of your subject that evoke the personality and tone you’re aiming for, and lighting is key to achieving this. To master this photography style you need to be familiar with portrait-lighting patterns, how they work with your subject’s features, and how to get the best use out of your lights. You may even want to use a light meter to help with your composition.
Not every style works for every subject, so you’ll need to know what portrait-lighting patterns can enhance or detract from how a shot should look.
Some patterns, like the butterfly, can make a face look slimmer while others can make a face appear wider. Portrait lighting can also change the overall mood, making the scene appear darker and more dramatic or lighter and cheerful.
Below you’ll find nine portrait-lighting patterns to help you showcase your subject in the best way possible.
1. Backlighting: A backlit portrait creates a soft, halo-like light behind the subject while softly illuminating the face. It’s great to use when you want a portrait to have a dreamy, warm feel. To take a backlit portrait, position your light source directly behind your subject so it’s not visible to your camera. Use a reflector in front of the subject to softly illuminate their face while creating a halo-like light behind them.
2. Rim lighting: This pattern is more about the highlights it creates than the shadows. It outlines the subject with light, giving the portrait a dramatic effect. To create this pattern, use a light 45 degrees behind the subject. Use a reflector to create the desired highlight on the subject’s face or, for a darker image, do away with the reflector. This will give you a shot with only the outline of your subject.
3. Clamshell lighting: For a well-lit portrait that enhances the jawline and cheekbones of your subject, clamshell lighting in a studio works well. Place your light above and behind the camera and angle it downward 30 to 45 degrees. To fill in shadows and create a softer light, have the subject hold a reflector in their lap.
4. Butterfly lighting: This lighting pattern is perfect for creating a glamorous portrait. It’s also known as “Paramount lighting” because of its use in classic Hollywood glamour photography. Place your light source directly above and behind the camera. This will softly light your subject’s face from above and create a butterfly-shaped shadow under their nose. It also creates shadows under the cheeks and chin, making your subject’s face look slimmer. A strong light source such as a strobe flash or the sun works well to create a defined shadow.
5. Loop lighting: Loop lighting can be done in the studio or outdoors. This type of lighting creates a well-lit subject but preserves a few distinct shadows on one side of the face, namely beside the nose and cheek. To achieve this effect, place your light source or reflector slightly higher than eye level and 30 to 45 degrees from the camera. In addition to having your light source at an angle to your subject, not using a reflector (like in the clamshell example above) can preserve the shadows in your portrait.
6. Split lighting: When you want a portrait to have a dramatic effect, split lighting is a great technique to use. It’s done by placing your light source 90 degrees to the right or left of your subject. You may need to place it slightly behind their head to divide the face equally. On the shadowed side of the face, the eye should be the only part picking up light and there should be a catchlight in the eye. A catchlight is the reflection of the light source that shows up as a white spot in the eye.
7. Rembrandt lighting: This pattern gets its name from the painter Rembrandt, who famously used this lighting pattern in his paintings. It creates an image that’s a bit more dramatic and moodier, like split lighting. This pattern creates a triangle of light on one cheek by having the shadows cast by your subject’s nose and cheek meet, unlike the loop lighting pattern where they are separate and distinct. To create this effect, place your light source above your subject’s head and have them turn away from the camera slightly.
8. Broad lighting: This isn’t a lighting pattern but a style that can work with Rembrandt, loop, or split patterns. For this style, have the subject turn their face away from the center so that the broad side of their face is toward the camera and in the light. This creates an effect that widens the face, so it’s best to not use it on a subject with a very round or full face.
9. Short lighting: This style is the opposite of broad lighting. It illuminates the side of the face turned away from the camera. It creates a bit of a darker portrait and is more slimming than broad lighting. Have your subject turn his or her face toward your light source, creating a shadow on the largest part of the face that’s toward the camera.
The more you practice portrait photography, the more you’ll recognize what lighting patterns work best for different types of faces. No matter what lighting pattern you choose, remember that not every style will work for every face. The most important thing is that your subject looks their best.
