Broad and Short Lighting
Learning the difference between broad and short lighting can make a huge difference to the look of the subjects in your photos, and can certainly make a difference in how much your subjects like them!
Broad lighting often emphasizes width, particularly of your subject’s face, but often their whole body. The general view nowadays is that, for the most part, people don’t want to appear at their widest, so using short lighting is usually far more flattering.
Broad lighting does have its uses however. It’s widely used in fashion photography, where it doesn’t matter if your lighting seems to add a few pounds to very slim models with angular, thin faces. It can be effective in lighting many men, who tend not to mind if they ...
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