Navigating Portrait Lighting: Simple Tips for Photographers
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Hello friends. I wanna briefly take some time and talk about portrait lighting. And it's because I've seen people talk about the need for expensive equipment, unique equipment, specific equipment for specific needs and scenes and things like that. And I just wanna break things down a little bit because you don't, [00:01:00] in fact, there's so many.

Professional photographer is doing incredibly beautiful work with nothing, just using natural light and reflectors, V flats, things like that. So I wanna talk a little bit about portrait lighting and when it comes to portrait photography, yes, lighting is one of the most critical elements that can make or break your photograph.

The right lighting can highlight facial features, it could create mood, it can enhance the overall quality of your photographs. So understanding the various portrait lighting setups from basic to advance can significantly elevate your skills and help you achieve fantastic, incredible, beautiful results.

So let's explore different portrait lighting scenarios and setups and things like that, like natural light, right? One of the most accessible light sources. You go outside, you've got your light now. Natural light [00:02:00] while outside often is gonna get you some pretty harsh light, but you can create soft light with diffuser diffusers, sorry.

And, going into the shade, using golden light, golden hour versus just the harsh, noon time, 12:00 PM harsh sunlight, using reflectors, bouncing light instead of using direct light. There's so many different things you can do, which is natural light. Let's say you're inside, right?

you could also utilize natural light while inside by using ref, windows and using curtains and things like that, right? There's a reason why so many photo studios are white, because they can have these giant windows and just utilize it as a big soft box without having to have physical light.

They could just modify the natural light coming through the windows. There's also one light setups, and I'm a big fan of this, where you just have one light that is your main source of light, and then you utilize either reflectors or [00:03:00] scrims or or mix it with natural light, right? So you've got this one artificial light, mixed with natural light, and that artificial light that is your main light, could be a flash, could be an LED light, could be.

A tungsten light, whatever you want it to be, but it's one light, right? now with this though, you've gotta be careful. You gotta be careful. You don't have harsh shadows in bad spots, right? You don't want to create, a raccoon eye type of look, you wanna make sure that you are making it appealing on your subject's face.

Or if you're doing a product, you wanna make sure there's no. Reflections on the product that are distracting and whatnot. Sometimes when you've got glass is very complicated. Cars are very complicated to light,Sometimes they are attractive depending on the look, but most of the time you want to get rid of 'em.

So 45 degree angles, height, all these different things, modifiers, and of course scrimming, making sure that you're blocking light from where you [00:04:00] don't want it to go, and you're allowing it to go where you do want it to go with soft boxes and things like that. And, umbrellas are great for spreading light, but they're not always great for controlling light.

Utilize soft boxes when you can.two light setups, right? So we've got natural light, we've got one light. Now there's two lights, right? So you've got your main light, your key light, and then you've got your fill light. So instead of your fill light, potentially being reflectors, your fill light is, or natural light,your fill light is now an additional artificial light.

So now you have two lights, ideally. Both white balance the same, right? So the temperature of these lights are the same, whether they're flash or whether they're, a constant light. A lot of LEDs these days, I'm recording this in 2025, almost every LED constant light you would buy. You can control the color temperature of the light.

I'll also say that if you get an RGB light, meaning one, that can change any to any color you want, the color accuracy is not as good. If you get. A an LED light that can just go from warm to [00:05:00] cool, and you can control the Kelvin's in between. So consider that as well. again, you're gonna wanna use refl, reflectors.

When you, when needed, you're gonna wanna use scrims and diffusers, and you're going to want to have your lights not perfectly symmetric, right? You might want one to be high and far back in a very large soft box. And another one a little closer and smaller. And different angles, right? You may not want both to be at a 45 degree angle.

You might want one to be, softer. You might want one to be a background light more, not a background, but like a hair light, right? A rim light to light the back of your subject, not necessarily the background itself. So lots of options with two lights, okay? Of course, then you can keep adding lights. You could add a third light, and now you've got control over the background and your subject separate from one another.

Now for those who are doing multiple lights, especially if they're strobes, I highly recommend using one that you could control wireless that you don't want wires all [00:06:00] over your set or your studio, whatever it is. So,whether it's a Profoto, whether it's a Westcott light, whatever it might be, make sure that you've got a remote that you can control it, wirelessly.

So nobody's tripping. there's no hazard or anything like that. At the same time, if you are. Photographing in a studio environment, I, you might wanna actually be tethered to a computer so that way you and your subjects can see with more detail how the photo is coming out. And if that's the case, I recommend checking out Tether Tools.

and specifically because not only 'cause they make the best possible tethering cables for cameras to computer, but also they are bright orange. And so in a dark studio environment, they still stand out. so again, trip hazard, you don't want black cables too for somebody to trip over. Three light setup.

You've got your main light, you've got your fill light, then you've got your additional light, which could be a rim light, it could be a background light, it could be anything. It could be an RGB light that is quote unquote [00:07:00] jelled, but without the gel 'cause it's RGB. or you could just use a light that is jelled to add some color to your scene.

and if you're gonna add color, don't overdo it. Don't overdo it.so with the three light setup, you're gonna start with the two lights. You're gonna get those position, and then you're gonna take that third light that you want to, add that extra flavor with, whether it's the background or something else.

And that's when you're gonna fill that in. Again, that's gonna be probably fill light level or even less, potentially just for that, that additional subtle effect, or dimensions or things like that. Now there's also things like high key and low key, right? High key being like super bright light. These are, typically where the background is just white, right?

They're very bright. minimal shadows are used. they're. Think of it like a commercial where it's, I don't know, milk on a white background, right? That's the best way to explain it. Very high key. very bright. And,and no dark tones versus low key, which is very dark and [00:08:00] moody.

lots of shadows, a lot of, a lot of moody atmosphere to it. Strong contrast. and almost new film noir style, right? That's, that is low key, right? Both are, both have their place, both are fantastic, both are beautiful. It's just a matter of what you're actually going for is what you should aim for with the photo, with the lighting style that you're doing, 

and it is worth noting that if you're really good with lights and you really understand, photography theory and how to utilize the light and things like that, and you can actually create a. Low key look even in bright light. So lots of fun with lighting. Now, I mentioned rim lighting before. I just wanna talk briefly about what that is.

Rim lighting is basically where you've got a light in the back of your subject, aim towards the back of your subject's head or body or whatever to create this sort of light halo around your subject. And what that does is it actually. We'll separate your background,your subject from the background in your photo to give your [00:09:00] photo more depth, even if your subject is not physically further than the backdrop without the rim light, right?

a rim light is similar to a hair light, except a hair light is focused on the head. Rim light is focused on your, the full subject overall. There's also a beauty dish. A beauty dish is a type of reflector that, You would attach it to your light, and the light goes through this dish, bounces off a plate, then reflects off the plate, back to the dish, and then to the subject.

It's this small reflector. typically there may be like 20 to 30 inches, in size, in diameter for the circle, but it creates this very high contrast light. On your subject, and it's very flattering for head shots and things like that, that you want, that pop from your subject. I don't recommend it on every single thing, but there you go.

so that's just a quick overview of lighting. You gotta start with the basics. Start with the, with natural light. Bring in the [00:10:00] reflectors, bring in one artificial light, work with one artificial light and natural light. Then bring in a second light. You balance the key light with the fill light, and then your, natural light as a third fill light, then bring in a third light.

And now you've got,your key light, your fill light, your sort of ambiance light, which could be a hair light, could be a rim light, could be a color, whatever it might be. Hell, your,your rim light or your hair light could be a color itself and. Then when you start doing this, you could keep adding more lights if you have lights on hand, and then experiment with high key, experiment with low key, experiment with different types of lighting setups and lights themselves.

Experiment with modifiers. Don't just dive into what everybody tells you to get just because they're telling you to get it. Start at the beginning. It's so important. Mastering portrait, lighting, setups. Is an essential skill for [00:11:00] photographers, portrait photographers. That is, white photographers need to focus on, on, on lighting as well, right?

You may not think it, but you do. By starting with the basics and gradually incorporating more advanced techniques, you can create stunning portraits that capture the ends at the essence of your subjects. Just remember to experiment, play around. There is nothing wrong. Just don't experiment when you're being paid to experiment.

Experiment on your own time. Have fun with light 'cause that's what photography's all about. and with practice, you'll develop an instinct for lighting and what to do when you are on the job and paid for getting the job done. So thanks for tuning in to another episode of Photo Breakdowns. Until next time.