Rembrandt Portrait Lighting
Rembrandt portrait lighting is considered to be one of the five types of studio lighting techniques.
The name comes from the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669), who used this style of lighting extensively.
The other types of lighting are:
Rembrandt lighting is also known as 45 degree lighting because the key light (main light) is at a 45 degree angle from the subject’s nose.
This kind of lighting creates a triangular or diamond shape of light underneath the eye on the shadow side of the face.
Lighting Setup
From the image here, you can see that Rembrandt lighting is easy to setup. It is not necessary to have 3 lights but it does help to give you finer control of your lighting.
The subject is at a slight angle to the camera. The key light is between the subject’s nose and subject’s shoulders.
That is, the key light is at a 45 degree angle to the subject and is one the side of the face that is away from the camera.
The key light should be slightly higher than the subject.
The fill light is on camera camera left and is much weaker than the key light. This is because a key to this lighting is that the light is strong on one side.
Rembrandt lighting creates strong shadows and is considered to be typically masculine in nature.
You know you have a good Rembrandt setup if you can see catchlights in your subject’s eyes from the main, key light.
Love your camera. Love yourself. Love your photos.