Portrait
Lighting exercise
Mouse
over image to view roll over image with black
background
Image
C
In
situation C, the camera angle is from the side presenting
a profile of the head. The light is positioned just
below the head, it illuminates the face but throws
the back of the head into shadow. If the background
was changed to black, the deep shadow areas of the
subject would merge with the background.
Compare
other portrait lighting situations
There
are standard lighting techniques recommended
for portraits and while some photographers
follow these to the letter ( I worked for
a photographer who had not changed his lighting
set up for 20 years) it is more useful to
understand how to read light and shadows
on the subject and apply this to each subject.
In
the next sequence we will have a look at some
lighting options with one single desk lamp.
Find
a manikin or a doll and
try and set the lighting as well as you can to match that in
each of the images below. Shot it with a digital camera.
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
|
Once you have shot the images, upload them onto your computer and leave it a week. Then using your images as a guide, try o copy the light in each one as precisely as you can.