Portrait Lighting Setup 1: Butterfly Lighting

Butterfly lighting (also called Paramount lighting) is named after the butterfly-
shaped shadow that’s created beneath the nose. Place the main light source
above and directly behind your camera, pointed down slightly on your subject.

For butterfly lighting, position your light in front of the subject and pointed down on them.
The steeper the angle, the deeper the shadows.

Butterfly lighting creates a shadow under the chin, nose, and around the cheeks.
When the subject is turned at an angle, it can create more dramatic shadows
under the cheekbones. The higher you position the light behind you and above
the subject, the longer the shadows will get under the nose and chin. It’s
flattering for most faces.

Brighten butterfly lighting shadows easily with a reflector or white foam board
placed below the subject’s chin.
Portrait Lighting Setup 2: Loop Lighting

Loop lighting is created by placing your light slightly above eye level of the subject
and 45º off axis (give or take). This shifts the nose shadow to one side of the face.
Instead of a butterfly-ish shadow, you’ll end up with a small loop.

The quickest way to loop lighting is to start with butterfly lighting but then shift the position of
your light a little off to the side. Whatever side your light is on, a nose shadow will appear on
the opposite side.

Loop lighting sometimes has a lengthening effect on the face. It’s flattering on
most people and is used a lot for headshots and can be set up on either side. A
shadow appears on the opposite side of where the light is placed. The size of the
shadow depends on the position of the light and how much the nose is blocking
that light. The end of the nose casts the loop-shaped shadow. You will also see a
shadow appear on the cheek opposite the light. Loop lighting behaves much like
butterfly lighting – it’s just further to the side.
Portrait Lighting Setup 3: Rembrandt Lighting

Named after the Dutch painter who used this style in his work, Rembrandt
lighting is very similar to loop lighting. In Rembrandt lighting, however, the
shadow loop of the nose is long enough to connect with the shadow on the
cheek. This traps a triangle of light on the cheek.

The light’s position for Rembrandt looks a lot like the light position for loop. Here, it is placed
higher, slightly further off axis, and is at a slightly steeper angle. Rembrandt lighting is kind of
like an “extreme” loop lighting.

To get this, start with loop lighting but then continue to position your light up and
to the side until the nose shadow and cheek shadows touch. This lighting style is
moody, edgy, and artistic. Fill with a reflector for a softer look.
Portrait Lighting Setup 4: Split (or Side) Lighting

Split lighting (also called side lighting) is a form of lighting where half of the
subject’s face is lit, while the other half is left in shadow. It creates a dramatic,
unique feel and is not as common as other positions.

Split lighting is very easy to achieve: place your light to the side of your model. If leaving half the
face in darkness is too dramatic, add a reflector or white foam board to bounce a little light onto
that side.

Position your main light to the side of your model at a 90º angle. You can leave
the far side completely in shadow or you can use a bounce/fill light to show more
detail.
Even if you don’t want much detail to show on the opposite side of the face,
consider using fill to create catchlights in the eyes. Keep in mind, this kind of
lighting will highlight texture in your model’s face. Split lighting is great for very
moody portraits and is stylish but not always flattering.
Portrait Lighting Setup 5: Profile/Rim Lighting

Profile lighting (also called rim lighting) is sometimes used in sports portraiture
because it has a heroic look.
There are 2 common applications of this lighting type. For the first one, position
your light behind your subject. This creates an edge of light around your subject,
giving them definition and separation from the background. Your subject will be
mostly underexposed. This method requires more than one light if you don’t just
want an outline.

Clockwise from top left: • Single light from behind creates an outline effect. • Fill with a second
light as desired. • Behind the scenes look at this setup. • Example of profile lighting.

For the second one, have your subject positioned at 90º so that you only see their
profile. Place the light in front of their face (at a reasonable distance and just
above eye level to start) or even just very slightly behind the side of the face
that’s away from the camera. The idea is to light only the edge of their profile.
Portrait Lighting Setup 6: Broad Lighting

Broad lighting is a technique that can often be combined with one of the lighting
patterns above to solve specific problems.
Position the subject so that the part of their face that’s receiving the most light is
also the part that’s closest to the camera. This means your subject needs to be
sitting at a slight angle from you. It’s very useful for subject’s wearing glasses, as
broad lighting is the quickest way to light someone while keeping their glasses
outside the angle of reflection. Broad lighting is common for school portraits and
corporate headshots for this reason. However, it also can make a face look wider
than usual.

Broad lighting is a great choice for glasses. It doesn’t tend to cause reflections. To achieve it,
light the part of the face closest to the camera (even if it’s only slightly closer).
Portrait Lighting Setup 7: Short Lighting

Short lighting is the opposite of broad lighting. In short lighting, the part of the
face that is most illuminated is also the part furthest from the camera. Your
subject is still at an angle relative to the camera, but the light is now on the far
side of the face.

Short lighting, while fine in this example, can sometimes cause reflection in glasses depending
on the exact angle. It can be the trickier of the 2 positions. To achieve it, light the part of the
face farthest from the camera (even if it’s only slightly farther).

Depending exactly on the angle used, short lighting is good at creating definition
in the face. While certainly not impossible, avoiding glare from glasses with short
lighting is challenging. Short lighting can “thin” a face out – which is both good
and bad depending on the look you are going for.
Portrait Lighting Setup 8: Fill Lighting

You can do a lot with just 1 light. However, you should decide whether or not you
want to also use a fill light. Fill lighting doesn’t need to come from another light.
Instead of adding a second light source as your fill, you can bounce light off your
key light from a reflector and use that as your fill.
To use fill lighting effectively, it is helpful to understand the basics of lighting
ratios. The larger the ratio is between two lights, the more pronounced the
contrast between light and dark is. Lighting ratios can get technical very quickly
for beginners. Just understand that you can create dynamic portraits with
interesting contrast and depth by having your key light at one level of brightness
and your fill lighting at a lower level of brightness. This can be measured in a
couple of ways:

With a light meter. If your light meter reads f/8 when you measure the part of
your subject the key light is hitting and then it reads f/5.6 on the side where your
fill light is hitting, then you know that your key is twice as bright as your fill. This is
because f/5.6 to f/8 is 1 stop difference. Every stop of exposure is twice the
amount of light.

With the lights themselves (“eyeballing” it). Less precise than using a light meter,
but suitable for beginners looking to get just a better feel for lighting. If your key
flash or strobe is at ½ power and your fill flash or strobe is at ¼ power then you
have your 2:1 ratio.

1:1 lighting ratio on the left, 2:1 lighting ratio on the right.

If your fill light is set to the same power as your key light, then the portrait will be
flat and the lighting very even. Sometimes you want this but most of the time you
want a little bit of definition. The quickest way to do that is to create contrast by
letting the key light be the main star with the fill light merely being a supporting
character.