Hi my name is John and this is Charlie. Today we're going to talk through a
single studio light setup. We're going to show you 5 different
lighting patterns. We're going show you and demonstrate and discuss the benefits
of each one and what they can be used for. So without further ado let's get
into this and run the intro and we'll see you on the other side.
Hi my name is John Tisbury and with me today is Charlie.
My YouTube channel concentrates on photography and cinematography instructional, tutorial
and how-to videos. In this video we're going to look at single studio
light photography. I spend a lot of time in the studio just working on one light
and I thought it'd be good to share with you the five most common
lighting patterns that are used when using a single light.
So we're going to have a look at Flat lighting, Butterfly lighting, Loop lighting, Rembrandt lighting and
Split lighting. That's the five we're going to work our way through. And we're
going to chat and show you and demonstrate each one as we work our way through.
So the first one we're going to look at is Flat lighting.
We've actually got flat lighting setup at the moment. So Charlie's looking at the
second camera that we've got here and you'll see and the lighting on her it's
a very, hence its name, flat lighting. There's very little shadow appearing on
her face you will see a bit of shadow under the chin. The light that we're
using incidentally is a very contrasty hard light. It's like a bare bulb
light which probably helps you from a perspective of being able to see the
transition from the shadows to the highlights. But bear in mind these
lighting patterns I'm going to be chatting about also work equally well
with a softer light. So if you used a softbox they would work exactly the same
or you could put in a reflector or a fill anything like that to soften the
shadows if you find those shadows too harsh. So you've got a lot of flexibility
there to be able to adapt these 5 lighting patterns.
So the flat lighting is generally used in high-end glamour, fashion, editorial. Those types of usage.
It creates a very flattering light it's great for reducing the signs of wrinkles
and skin marks, skin lines, those sort of things. Obviously Charley doesn't have
any of those. I don't have any of those!
It's a very flattering light I guess it is really what I'm saying. You do get a
bit of a shadow, say under the chin. And depending on the light source where it's
a hard light or a soft light that can be more acute or or less. You can soften
that by the use of a reflector under the chin. That will that will help
reduce that if you want to. So there you go so that's Flat lighting. We're just
going to bring some shots up on screen so you can have a look at the Flat lighting.
So I"m now moving into the second one which is the Butterfly lighting. So I'm moving the light up.
I can all of a sudden see again!
I'm just going to tilt it down, angle it down a bit. And this is Butterfly lighting. It's also known as
Paramount lighting after the Hollywood studio, the Paramount studio.
It was used extensively in the early days of Hollywood as the preferred lighting
style for Paramount Studios. Even to the fact that some of the well-known
stars of the day, the female stars of the day, would only be photographed using
this lighting pattern.
Marlene Dietrich would insist on being photographed using this light and no other.
And apparently, I don't know how
true this is, I've read in places that some actresses, some movie stars, had it
written into their contracts that they could only be photographed using this
lighting pattern. I need to do that!
So that's how popular it was. It's called Butterfly lighting, or Paramount lighting,
because of the shadow that appears under the nose. You see I've raised the
light up higher than it was when we did the Flat lighting. I've rotated the light
down, or angled it down, and it's created a butterfly type shadow
under Charlie's nose. it gives you a very even light, it's very symmetrical in terms
of a lighting pattern. Very flattering if you've got high cheekbones you'll see it
gives you a nice shadow area underneath so it really defines the facial
features. So it's a really nice feminine light pattern for doing sort of glamour,
high-end fashion, that kind of thing. So there you go that is
Butterfly lighting or Paramount lighting.
So just gonna take a couple of photographs on that and I'll put those up on screen.
So that's a 2 done, let's move on to our 3rd which is Loop lighting.
These next 3 we're chatting about can all
be used with the same sort of height of the light.
And what I mean by that is once you've set the light in the correct position, you can rotate your model to be
able to cover the next 3 lighting patterns. Economies of scale!
So what I'm going to do is move this light. This is the Loop lighting.
So that's your Loop lighting. It's characterized by the shadow under the nose.
You'll see that before on the Butterfly it was right
symmetrical underneath the nose. As you move the light off to the side
off-camera either left or right doesn't really matter. Whichever you prefer or
whichever your subject prefers, the shadow moves across under the nose and
forms a little loop of shadow. It adds a little bit more drama to the image it
adds more shadow area. I guess it's probably one of the most common types of lighting
pattern used for lighting portraits both male and female. It can use for both.
and as I say a little bit more drama because you're adding a little bit
more shadow into the light so you get a little bit more contrast and a little
bit more definition in your image. I'm just going to take a couple of shots of that.
Come back round the front. I don't have loads of studio assistants. So just me here and Charley.
So we have to do all the work. Well in fact I'm doing all the work,
Charley's just sitting here!
So the next one we're going to do is a Rembrandt lighting.
Rembrandt lighting is perhaps a well known lighting style, or lighting setup.
It was made famous by the Dutch artist Rembrandt.
He was the master of capturing light and shadows in his paintings and very often
he would position his subjects, when he was painting them, under a light. So under
a ceiling, sort of skylight in the roof. And you have the light coming directly
down. And what that tended to do was form a shadow on one side of the face but
also create a very little highlight of a triangle on that shadow side of the face.
Probably easier to show you.
So keeping the light at the same height, and all I'm doing is moving it further round
There you go. And you'll see there we've now got the triangle of light appearing on Charley's cheek here.
And the nose shadow that we had previously has now crept into the shadow
which is now appeared on the side of the face to help form that triangle.
It's a very dramatic style of lighting. Probably not use that much in
glamor and high fashion type portraiture. Because it's quite moody.
But if you want to create emotion and get across those kind of feelings
through your photography, cinematography then it's a good lighting pattern for that.
Now I've just moved the light round to do the Rembrandt, and I'm just going to move it
around even further and we're going to do the last one. The 5th that we're
going to show you which is the Split lighting.
I'm going to see how I get on here because I'm looking at the floor and I'm seeing all my tripods gonna get
a little bit er.. twisted up.
So with Split lighting I'm moving the light round further and further.
To sort of 90 degrees. It's kept at the same height. And I've moved it all the way
around so I'm lighting Charley from the side. It's set quite high up still
so as I say the same height as the last two that we've done. And you can see there it
creates a line down the middle of the face. So we've got lit on one side and in
shadow on the the other side. Similar to the Rembrandt, it's not that sort of
lighting pattern you're gonna use all the time. I'm having to move my head here,
I've got the light just above it and I don't want to bang my head on it.
Again a very very moody style of lighting. It's great for bringing
out texture, and form and shape. So if you're doing people like athletes, or you
know weight-lifters. That kind of thing. Where you want to bring out muscle tone
and shape, texture and form across the body, it's a great lighting pattern for that.
Probably not so much from a from the glamour perspective.
Again as I said earlier you can soften the shadow areas by bringing in a reflector or
bounce on the opposite side to the shadows to soften those out if you
want to. As you can do with all of the other patterns.
So there you go. That's your 5 patterns that we've worked through.
I'm going to run a little video just at the end here just to show the transition between
the 5 patterns. Just as a recap.
I hope you found that useful. Comment below on the type of lighting patterns that
you use. What are your go-to lighting patterns either for photography or cinematography.
That's a big word!
I'd be interested to hear, and know what you use. What is your go-to set up.
If you like what you've seen and heard, then please consider subscribing if you're
not already a member. Click on the little subscribe button that's going to
pop up down below in the in the bottom corner, and then also click on the
notification icon which will then notify you when I upload new videos.
So that's it. Thanks for watching hopefully see you on the next one. Cheers for now.
Thank you so much. Loves.