ABSTRACT
Three-point lighting with a key, fill, and backlight is the most basic lighting for portraiture. You may want to add an edge light to that list for shooting talking heads. The key light is the brightest light, except possibly in dramatic pieces such as feature films. Motivated sources of light with corresponding movie lights are a major inspiration in planning lighting for any composition. Placing the key in the far-side or off-side position is often the best choice for portraiture. Rembrandt lighting features an upside-down triangle of light on the subject’s cheek. Softening the key light makes faces more attractive. Placing the key light over the camera will help eliminate wrinkles in the subject’s face. Fill light can be as simple as a bounce card or even negative fill to increase the contrast of the lighting. Backlight can be soft and unobtrusive though it has garnered a bad reputation from TV. Bald heads need a very soft backlight. Edge light is a more modern trend and can feel naturalistic, whether on one side or both sides. You can find far-side keys in portraiture paintings if you look for it.
