2025-02-01 Hands-On Lighting

We had a really nice get-together at cSpace this Saturday with about 12 attendees who braved the blizzard in almost white-out conditions.

This web page is a compilation of the subjects covered during this session with links to videos and articles that describe techniques.

The first subject that was explored was natural lighting. The high ceiling north facing windows gave beautiful diffuse lighting. Here is a sample of the test subject against a black cloth background. The image was enhanced in Camera Raw and Photoshop.

Below is a typical setup for natural light. (top down view) Notice that in home environments there is always reflected light from other walls or objects on the other side of a face. You can manipulate the amount of light on the dark side of the face by using a reflector. The amount of light bouncing back is proportional to the inverse square of the distance to the face. The reflector can be as simple as a white table cloth or as sophisticated as a commercial reflector.

Rembrandt lighting with a single floodlight set at 5400 Kelvin. Without rim light.

Rembrandt lighting with rim light

Rembrandt lighting setup

Rembrandt lighting with rim light directly behind and below.

Rembrandt Lighting as before but with a fill in light softening the harsh shadows

Instructional video on Rembrandt lighting

Here is a instructional video on Rim Lighting

Low cost do-it-yourself lighting kit for portrait photography

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