Monday 8 May 2017

How to use one light set-up for portraits

Light is the most important element in photography. The subject has to be lit well to give it the three dimensional feel and most importantly to enhance the mood if that’s what you as a photographer wish to achieve. I love dramatic lighting and that’s how I light my subjects.

Basic lighting for a portrait is to position the main light to the right side of the camera pointing downwards from the model’s face. At this stage look at how the light falls on your subject – look out for shadows under the nose and under the lips.

You can add a fill-in light on the other side of the face at a lower power to fill-in the shadows.

However I have just used one light on the below photograph, the main light is positioned approximately 40 degree from the camera.



Lighting diagram for the above image:


Below is the lighting diagram for the next image that I took. The camera and the model both remain at the same position. I have only changed the angle of light in order to achieve the desired look.
Lighting diagram 2


The model is looking towards the light, with her head slightly down, so the hair also catches the light. The main light is positioned at approximately 45 to 55 degree from the camera. The light stand has been moved slightly higher in order for the hair to catch the highlights.

The final image and the setting that I used: - F-stop f6.3, Exposure time 1/60, ISO 320.


Bhupinder Ghatahora
Ghatahora Photography