Understanding Photography

8Introduction to Portrait Lighting

GOOD LIGHTING IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT of portraiture. It’s also easily identifiable, even by the casual observer. However, despite this apparent simplicity, knowing how to use light to achieve a desired look requires a deeper understanding. In this chapter, you’ll first learn how a single light source can affect your subjects. Then you’ll see how adding a second light source can refine that control.

Note that this chapter utilizes both 3D rendered portraits (courtesy of Nikola Dechev) and actual subject portraits in a studio setting. Where applicable, we chose to use rendered images to more clearly illustrate subtle lighting differences than would otherwise be possible with an actual model or mannequin. Such ...