Portrait Lighting

Portrait lighting is very important because you want to invite your viewer to “come into the photo”.

A lot of portraits are done outdoors, in direct sunlight. This is probably the most difficult and unflattering look for portraits.

In general, the softer the light, the more pleasing and appropriate it is for portrait photography.

Studio Portrait Lighting

There are only a handful of different kinds of lighting setups for studio portrait lighting.

From this handful, you can be as creative as you would like; use these basic setups and add or remove lights.

They are:

• Rembrandt lighting
• Paramount lighting
• Loop lighting
• Split lighting
• Profile/Rim lighting

If you are shooting portraits and would like to know more information about lighting setups, please visit one of the above links.

Outdoor Portraits

If you have your model or client standing in direct sunlight, they will probably be squinting or sweating or both! This is not what you want.

If your subject is outdoors and it is a bright sunny day, try to get them into a shady area if possible.

If your subject insists on being under sunlight, you will have to make creative use of existing light for good pictures. As the sun shines down from above, what you will get are shadows under the subject’s eyes.

If this is the case, use either a reflector or a fill flash to get light underneath the eyes. If you don’t do this, your subject will have strong shadows under their eyes and the final look will neither be mesmerizing nor pleasant.

If your subject is outdoors and it is overcast, then you have a few more choices of settings and a bit more options with other off-camera lighting.

Indoor Portraits

The most flattering light for portraiture is soft, off-camera light. To achieve this kind of light, it is best to use a large softbox.

A softbox is a large box through which you direct light. The larger the softbox, the more gentle and more diffused the light.

If you don’t have access to a softbox, your next best choice is a large north-facing window.

A north-facing window will cause the light coming through it to be gently diffused. This is a very pleasing source of light and the best portraits are made under this kind of light.

Love your camera. Love yourself. Love your photos.