Professional-looking portraits often seem out of reach when you have limited equipment. Yet, with just a single light, you can create striking images. Learning simple, effective lighting setups can transform your work and allow you to create polished results without an elaborate studio.
Coming to you from Martin Castein, this educational video introduces five essential one-light setups for portrait photography. It starts with butterfly lighting, an excellent technique for headshots and beauty portraits. Positioning the light slightly above and angled toward your subject creates a flattering shadow beneath the nose. This setup smooths imperfections and highlights your subject’s complexion. It's a reliable first choice for any session, ensuring you have images that satisfy your client while building your confidence to explore more creative setups.
Next, Castein discusses side lighting, which shifts the mood dramatically. By positioning the light at a sharp angle to the subject, you create more dimension and emphasize texture. This setup delivers a bold, artistic feel, perfect for expressive portraits. Unlike butterfly lighting, it abandons the soft, polished look in favor of something more striking and dramatic. The video demonstrates how to position the light effectively for maximum impact and offers examples that highlight the versatility of this approach.
The video also explores Rembrandt lighting, known for mimicking natural window light. It strikes a balance between the softness of butterfly lighting and the drama of side lighting. By positioning the light at a 45-degree angle and tilting it downward, you create the signature triangular highlight on one cheek. The video emphasizes experimenting with light distance to vary the contrast and mood, showing how small adjustments can make significant changes to the final image. That's just the start, so check out the video above for the full rundown from Castein.
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!"
For nostagic Hollywood Glamour shots I used to use a focusing Bowens Monospot studio flash unit. Controllable hard light that created awesome, sculpting, shadows and shapes. George Hurrell used focusing movie lights for his work. Google/search his work to see what one light with gobos and reflectors are capable of.
The Pixurman