4) Rembrandt Light is considered an artistic classic. The main light is positioned high and on the side of the face that is away from the camera. Generally the subject is placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera (as opposed to just looking straight on.) This technique produces an illuminated triangle on the cheek closest to the camera. The triangle will illuminate just under the eye and not below the nose. The face should appear illuminated on one side and heavily shadowed on the other.

Place your reflector (or white poster board) on the opposite side of the studio light. The reflector should be angled so that it reflects any remaining light in the room to the subject's darken side. The key here is NOT to eliminate the dark shadows, but to add detail within the shadows. The third photo tip to remember: adding subtle detail makes images appear more artistic.

5.) Butterfly Light is achieved by positioning the main light directly in front of the subjects face and adjusting the height to create a shadow directly under, and in line with the nose. This style is best suited for subjects with a normal oval face and is considered to be a glamour style of lighting best suited for women. This lighting technique creates hard shadows in the eye sockets and under the chin depending on the size of your main light and distance to your subject. Use a reflector under the main light source to fill in the underside of the face (eye sockets, under nose and under chin areas). Sometimes this is referred to as "over and under lighting".

Now the setups given above; can use extra lights, but they don’t have to. Just as you can take an award winning photographs with a $50.00 camera or a $5,000.00 camera, you can also take great shots with a single light source. As we mentioned before, having the tools and knowing what to do with them are two totally different things.

It is my firm belief that photographers who learned to master Black and White photography first and then learned Color photography; will ALWAYS have the advantage over those who started with color photography. This is not meant to insult younger photographers. If a cake taste bad, it doesn’t matter what kind of icing you put on it. Learn the basics of good photography first, and then you can add more lights, more lenses, or whatever the case may be. Thus the fourth photo tip to remember is this: start with the basics, master them first. Then go forward.

Page 2 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next