Studio Photography: lighting patterns

Last Wednesday we learnt about 4 basic light patterns and how to achieve them.

Butterfly lighting

The light creates a small butterfly shaped shadow under the nose.  The flash is positioned to the front and sligthtly raised to the subject.  This type of lighting is mainly used for beauty and Hollywood type shots as it is very flattering and small wrinkles are not visible.

Loop lighting

The flash is still towards the front but moved 25 degrees to the side, also slightly positioned raised to the subject. This is the popular type of lighting used for headshots of authors or actors.

 

Rembrandt lighting

The light is more towards the side but higher up to cast a shadow that joins the nose and cheek shadow, creating a triangle under the eye.  This type of lighting is very dramatic.

Split lighting

The light is positioned to the side of the subject, perhaps moved just a fraction forward to prevent the shadow of the eyelashes across the nose.