One advanced portrait photography lighting pattern is Rembrandt light. Using this can add a lot of drama to your photos. Here is what it is and how to use it…
Our portrait photography photo tip for today is about "Rembrandt Lighting." This is a great lighting pattern to use if you are going for a dramatic mood in your portrait. Not every face is ideal for Rembrandt lighting but it is a powerful addition to your portrait photography lighting arsenal!
First,
what is "Rembrandt Lighting"?
Rembrandt lighting is a portrait lighting pattern that shows one side of the face in highlight and the other in shadow - but on the shadowed side, the cheek has a triangle of light.
It is called Rembrandt lighting because the Dutch artist Rembrandt frequently used it in his portraits.
By the way... These photo tips are about ART, not just photography. They work for painters too! Art is art, it doesn't matter what format it is in.
Towards the end of the article there is a link to a Rembrandt self-portrait using this lighting pattern. Check it out.
Notice the triangle of light on his far cheek? That is the defining characteristic of this lighting pattern.
Many budding photographers shy away from using these advanced lighting techniques because they don't have any studio lights - so they think they can't do them! Let this be a motivator for you. Rembrandt didn't have studio lights either! (He didn't even have electricity.)
This - and all of the other lighting patterns - can be used with any light source, not just studio lights. Windows, the sun, reflectors… it just doesn't matter. It's the shadows that matter, not the source of the light creating them.
While the portrait shows the pattern being used with a broad lighting pattern. It can also be used on top of a short lighting pattern.
Remember, broad lighting is when the side of the face furthest from the camera is in shadow. Short lighting is when the side of the face closest to the camera is in shadow.
Since shadow areas tend to visually recede, broad lighting makes the face look wider - more broad. That's where the pattern's name came from!
Since most of us want to look thinner, you will most likely be using the Rembrandt lighting pattern with a short light base in most of your portrait photography. But, not always, so learn and practice creating it both ways.
How to create the Rembrandt lighting pattern?
It is easy. Position your subject so the light source is to the side and higher than their head. Then have them turn slightly away from the light source. (Or move the light source if it is mobile.)
One problem you may encounter is that if you are using light from a window or a large reflector, some of the light may be coming from too low of an angle and mess up your pattern.
Just cover up the bottom part of the light source and block off the extraneous light. Problem solved.
In a previous article on loop lighting, we discussed not letting the shadow from the nose touch the shadow on the cheek. In Rembrandt lighting they do intersect. That is what creates the triangle.
Caution: Be sure that the shadowed eye has a catch light or it will look dead, dull, lifeless and any other nasty name you can think of.
Some subjects will have facial and/or nose shapes that don't easily lend themselves to this pattern. In this case - make sure you are doing it right, and if it isn't working - do something else. Another lighting pattern will be more suited to their face.
The Rembrandt lighting pattern is a good one for adding drama to your portrait photography. It is also one of the classic photo lighting patterns and every photographer should be comfortable in using it.
Here is a link that shows a self-portrait of Rembrandt using the "Rembrandt Lighting" pattern.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt:_Self_Portrait_%28Altman%29
Today's photo tip / assignment is to learn the Rembrandt lighting pattern and USE IT in your portrait photography! It can definitely separate you from the crowd!
