Light is more than just a way to illuminate your subject—it’s the key to creating mood and emotion in an image. With a blank wall and a single subject, the right use of lighting can turn an ordinary scene into something that tells a story.
Coming to you from Jiggie Alejandrino, this engaging video walks through a creative exercise in using light to tell the story of a person who’s just been stood up. Alejandrino begins by describing how participants started with soft lighting, but it wasn’t capturing the heaviness of the scene. The soft light made everything feel too calm, too gentle for the emotion they were trying to convey. So, he guided them through a series of changes, eventually opting for a harsher light setup that produced deep shadows and intense highlights.
Alejandrino’s process shows how much light can influence perception. A softer light with diffused shadows can feel warm and inviting, but it’s not always the right choice. For a scenario involving heartbreak and frustration, sharper light patterns are more effective. By simply changing the light source and angle, the feeling of the image shifted dramatically, making it look more like a scene filled with tension and unease.
A key part of this transformation was in the way Alejandrino used modifiers to shape the light. With a narrow beam and harder edges, the lighting isolated the subject, making her appear more alone and vulnerable. It highlighted small details like the lines in her face and the tense position of her hands, which would have been lost under softer lighting. This attention to detail brings out the emotion in a way that enhances the story the image is trying to tell.
Another important point Alejandrino makes is how lighting works together with posing. He directs the subject to lean back, cross her legs, and tilt her head down—small movements that give off a sense of disappointment. With the light set up to create strong shadows and accentuate these gestures, you can almost feel the subject’s discomfort. It’s a reminder that light alone can’t create a powerful image. It needs to work in harmony with the subject’s pose and expression.
The video serves as a strong example of how light can be used as a storytelling tool, far beyond just making an image look good. It’s about finding the right balance of light and shadow to complement the mood, and it shows that even a blank wall can be transformed into a powerful backdrop with the right lighting choices. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Alejandrino.
If you would like to continue learning about how to light a portrait, be sure to check out "Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!"
