Portrait photographs have been made since virtually the
invention of the camera. The relatively low cost of the daguerreotype in the
middle of the 19th century and the reduced sitting time for the subject, though
still much longer than now, led to a general rise in the popularity of portrait
photography over painted portraiture. The style of these early works reflected
the technical challenges associated with long exposure times and the painterly
aesthetic of the time. Subjects were generally seated against plain backgrounds
and lit with the soft light of an overhead window and whatever else could be
reflected with mirrors. Advances in photographic equipment and techniques
developed, and gave photographers the ability to capture images with shorter
exposure times and the making of portraits outside the studio.
Lighting for portraiture
When portrait photographs are composed and captured in a
studio, the photographer has control over the lighting of the composition of
the subject and can adjust direction and intensity of light. There are many
ways to light a subject's face, but there are several common lighting plans
which are easy enough to describe.
Three-point lighting
One of the most basic lighting plans is called three-point
lighting. This plan uses three (and sometimes four) lights to fully model
(bring out details and the three-dimensionality of) the subject's features. The
three main lights used in this light plan are as follows:
Key light
Also called a main light, the key light is usually placed to
one side of the subject's face, between 30 and 60 degrees off center and a bit
higher than eye level. The key light is the brightest light in the lighting
plan.
Fill light
Placed opposite the key light, the fill light fills in or
softens the shadows on the opposite side of the face. The brightness of the
fill light is usually between 1/3 and 1/4 that of the key light. This is
expressed as a ratio as in 3:1 or 4:1. When the ratio is 3:1 this is sometimes
called Kodak lighting since this was the ratio suggested by Kodak in the
instructional booklets accompanying the company's early cameras.
The purpose of these two lights is to mimic the natural
light created by placing a subject in a room near a window. The daylight
falling on the subject through the window is the Key light and the Fill light
is reflected light coming from the walls of the room. This type of lighting can
be found in the works of hundreds of classical painters and early photographers
and is often called Rembrandt lighting.
Back light
Also called a rim light or hair light, the back light (the third
main light in the three-point lighting plan) is placed behind the subject, out
of the picture frame, and often rather higher than the Key light or Fill. The
point of the rim light is to provide separation from the background by
highlighting the subject's shoulders and hair. The rim light should be just
bright enough to provide separation from the background, but not as bright as
the key light.
Sometimes the rim light is set just off to the side, on the
fill light side. This can add edge detail to the shadowed side of your model's
face. This can add the effect of having a kicker light using only the three
basis lights of three point lighting.
Kicker
The "fourth light" in three point lighting, a
kicker is a small light, often made directional or limited in coverage through
the use of a snoot, umbrella, or softbox that adds a bright edge light on the
fill light side of the subject's face, usually just enough to establish the jaw
line or edge of an ear. The kicker should thus be a bit brighter than the fill
light, but not so bright it over fills the off side of the face; the placement
and brightness of a kicker is a matter of taste and technique. Many
portraitists choose not to use a kicker and settle for the three main lights of
the standard plans. It may thus also be considered an accessory light.
Butterfly lighting
This lighting can be recognized by the strong light falling
on the forehead, the bridge of the nose and the upper cheeks, and by the
distinct shadow below the nose which often looks rather like a butterfly and
thus provides the name for this lighting plan. Butterfly lighting was a
favourite of famed Hollywood portraitist George Hurrell, which is why this
style of lighting is often called Paramount lighting.
Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (1932) by Don English
Accessory lights
These lights can be added to basic lighting plans to provide
additional highlights or add background definition.
Background lights
Not so much a part of the portrait lighting plan, but rather
designed to provide illumination for the background behind the subject,
background lights can pick out details in the background, provide a halo effect
by illuminating a portion of a backdrop behind the subject's head, or turn the
background pure white by filling it with light.
Other lighting equipment
Most lights used in modern photography are a flash of some
sort. The lighting for portraiture is typically diffused by bouncing it from
the inside of an umbrella, or by using a soft box. A soft box is a fabric box,
encasing a photo strobe head, one side of which is made of translucent fabric.
This provides a softer lighting for portrait work and is often considered more
appealing than the harsh light often cast by open strobes. Hair and background
lights are usually not diffused. It is more important to control light spillage
to other areas of the subject. Snoots, barn doors and flags or gobos help focus
the lights exactly where the photographer wants them. Background lights are
sometimes used with colour gels placed in front of the light to create coloured
backgrounds.
[A gobo (or GOBO) derived from "Go Between" or
"Goes Before Optics" is a physical template slotted inside, or placed
in front of, a lighting source, used to control the shape of emitted light].
Windowlight portraiture
Windows as a source of light for portraits have been used
for decades before artificial sources of light were discovered. According to
Arthur Hammond, amateur and professional photographers need only two things to
light a portrait: a window and a reflector. Although window light limits
options in portrait photography compared to artificial lights it gives ample
room for experimentation for amateur photographers. A white reflector placed to
reflect light into the darker side of the subject's face, will even the
contrast. Shutter speeds may be slower than normal, requiring the use of a
tripod, but the lighting will be beautifully soft and rich.
The best time to take window light portrait is considered to
be early hours of the day and late hours of afternoon when light is more
intense on the window. Curtains, reflectors, and intensity reducing shields are
used to give soft light. While mirrors and glasses can be used for high key
lighting. At times colored glasses, filters and reflecting objects can be used
to give the portrait desired color effects. The composition of shadows and soft
light gives window light portraits a distinct effect different from portraits
made from artificial lights.
While using window light, the positioning of the camera can
be changed to give the desired effects. Such as positioning the camera behind
the subject can produce a silhouette of the individual while being adjacent to
the subject give a combination of shadows and soft light. And facing the
subject from the same point of light source will produce high key effects with
least shadows.
Styles of portraiture
There are many different techniques for portrait
photography. Often it is desirable to capture the subject's eyes and face in
sharp focus while allowing other less important elements to be rendered in a
soft focus. At other times, portraits of individual features might be the focus
of a composition such as the hands, eyes or part of the subject's torso.
Additionally another style such as head shot has came out of
the portraiture technique and had become a style on its own.
Approaches to portraiture
There are essentially four approaches that can be taken in
photographic portraiture — the constructionist, environmental, candid and
creative approaches. Each approach has been used over time for different
reasons be they technical, artistic or cultural.
The constructionist approach
is when the photographer in their portraiture constructs an idea around the
portrait — happy family, romantic couple, trustworthy executive. It is the
approach used in most studio and social photography. It is also used
extensively in advertising and marketing when an idea has to be put across.
The
environmental approach depicts the subject in their environment be that a work,
leisure, social or family one. They are often shown as doing something, a
teacher in a classroom, an artist in a studio, a child in a playground. With
the environmental approach more is revealed about the subject. Environmental
pictures can have good historical and social significance as primary sources of
information.
The candid approach is where people are photographed without their
knowledge going about their daily business. Whilst this approach taken by the
paparazzi is criticized and frowned upon for obvious reasons, less invasive and
exploitative candid photography has given the world superb and important images
of people in various situations and places over the last century. The images of
Parisians by Doisneau and Cartier-Bresson to name but two, demonstrate this. As
with environmental photography, candid photography is important as a historical
source of information about people.
The creative approach is where digital
manipulation (and formerly darkroom manipulation) is brought to bear to produce
wonderful pictures of people. It is becoming a major form of portraiture as
these techniques become more widely understood and used.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_photography
‘The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director
can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street’.
Robert Doisneau
Images of Parisians by Robert Doisneau
'In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject.
The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.'
Image of Parisians by Cartier - Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
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