My Portrait Lighting slides from PhotoCampHouston. Presentation and images copyright 2007-2009 Jeremey L. Barrett. All Rights Reserved. This means you can't use this presentation or the images therein without my permission.

1. Portrait Lighting Fundamentals
Jeremey Barrett @jeremey jeremeybarrett@mac.com
January 24, 2009

6. The Right Light
The look you want - what are
✤
your goals?
Soft?
✤
Harsh?
✤
Contrasty?
✤
Ethereal?
✤
Generally portrait lighting is
✤
trying to be soft
...but not always
✤

7. Qualities of
Light
Soft
✤
Hard
✤
Directional
✤
Diffuse
✤
Contrasty
✤
Flat
✤
Natural
✤

8. Light Sources
Size: bigger = softer
✤
Distance: closer = softer
✤
Distance: closer = brighter
✤
Harder light = more contrast
✤
Coverage
✤
Angle
✤
Spill
✤

9. The Big Source
In The Sky
Small or large?
✤
Hard or soft?
✤
Time of day
✤
Color
✤
Diffusing
✤
Shadow
✤

10. Key Technique:
Separation
Separate, separate, separate
✤
Subject should not blend into
✤
the background
Light the background, not
✤
uniformly
Gradients are your friends
✤
Light the background first!
✤
Depth of field
✤
Rim lighting
✤

13. Reverse
Engineer
Where is the light coming
✤
from?
How hard or soft are the
✤
transitions from light to
shadow?
How many light sources are
✤
there?

14. Controlling
Light
Aperture controls how much of
✤
your strobe’s light “gets in”
Shutter speed controls how
✤
much of the ambient light “gets
in”
Inverse square blah-blah-blah
✤
Distance is a powerful tool!
✤
Examples: what color is the
✤
background material?