Butterfly, Rembrandt and Other Creative Lighting Techniques

Here at SC State we are stepping up our lighting game after our previous two lessons with a reflector disc and three-point lighting. Using this video as guidance along with some handout material, we captured images using the following lighting techniques: flat frontal, side, butterfly and Rembrandt. And then we had a little fun with the students giving their best scary face!  Here the results: 

FLAT FRONTAL LIGHTING

Communications students Sharlene Luke and Lawson Danley pose for our "flat frontal" example. Here only one light is used, the key light that is placed at eye level next to the camera. It's not a bad look on these two good-looking young people. I think this one is first on our tutorial list because, as explained in this photography link, "basically, flat lighting is lighting that produces very little contrast in your scene. "Flat means there's very little difference (contrast) between the highlights and shadows in flat light." 

SIDE, SPLIT OR 90-DEGREE LIGHTING

Here a single light is placed at a 90-degree angle from the camera. It is four to five feed to side of the subject's face at eye level. This can produce a dramatic and interesting effect. A key and back light can also be used to soften the shadows on the right side of Sharlene and Lawson's faces, but we just went with the one light to really capture the rather harsh lighting technique. 

BUTTERFLY OR HIGH FRONTAL  LIGHTING

The idea with butterfly lighting is that it can create a buttefly-shaped shadow beneath the nose by placing a light near the subject's face pointing down from above. A second light is positioned on the opposite side of key or main light and a backlight can also be used. These secondary lights should be pulled back from the subject, diffused or use a less powerful bulb so their effects are subtle. 

                                       REMBRANDT OR 45-DEGREE  LIGHTING

This method is named for the famed Dutch painter from the 17th century. Rembrandt's work was known for having a bit of a triangular shadow on one side of his portrait subject's face.  The key light is placed at a 45-degree downward angle in relation to the subject's face, and 45-degrees to the side of the subject. You can see a small shadow triangle on the right side of Lawson and Sharlene's noses. It's subtle so you have to look carefully. A fill light is to the left of the subject and is pulled back seven or eight feet. A backlight behind our models creates a bit of a halo or rim effect. 

This video helps us better understand the differences between Rembrandt and butterfly lighting. 

                                                             SCARY FACE  LIGHTING

Lastly, here we turned off all the lights in the room and the students used a flashlight such as the one on their phones to cast a small amount of light under their chins. I told the students when all of their blog posts for this assignment are completed that we will have a "scary face" contest. That should be fun and funny! Amauri Allen gives us a "trying to scare someone" face as opposed to a "being scared" face, I think.