The one-light portrait

Learning goal

In the studio, with only one light and a reflector, you will be able to build portraits that are very different from each other by changing positions and distances. You will show separately what the angle, the height, the distance to the subject and to the background, and the size of the light each add to the portrait in a one-light setup; and by shifting the center of the light a little away from the face, you will manage transitions and shine with feathering. You will tell apart broad lighting, which lights the side of the face turned toward the camera, and short lighting, which lights the far side, and compare their effects on the shape of the face, adjust the shadow side with the reflector's distance, and put the setup you built on paper with a lighting diagram seen from above. You will notice in which situation an additional light becomes unavoidable, and also check how a single light leaves the shadow side on different skin tones.

The question

Your neighbor is a retired history teacher, and the memoir they have been writing for years is finally being printed. They want a portrait for the back cover. You book the small photo room at the community education center for an afternoon: a gray paper background, a light stand, a single flash with a softbox attached in front, and a white reflector. The course manager tells you that the second and third lights will come next week, and that today you have to make do with only this.

In the first frame you put the light straight in front of the teacher; the face is clean but flat. When you move the softbox to the side, the face deepens but one half of it sinks into darkness. When you put the reflector on the other side, the shadow softens; when you move the teacher a step or two away from the background, the gray paper drops to a dark gray. Within an hour, with one light, you have shot six portraits that look nothing alike.

How much can you do with one light? Is a second light really essential for a portrait?

Context

In the previous module you got to know the flash, took it off the camera, and attached modifiers in front of it. Studio lighting brings these pieces together in a controlled space, in a setup where you can manage every parameter of the light one by one. This module aims to build the classic lighting patterns and, in the end, to design your own.

The starting point is a single light. In nature there is most often a single sun, and the eye is used to consistent shadows coming from a single source. A single light is also the best teacher: you see the result of every change without confusion. This lesson explores the limits and possibilities of this plain setup.

Simple explanation

Which variables are managed with one light?

A one-light setup is the arrangement where a portrait is lit only by one key light and, if needed, a reflector that produces no light. In this arrangement you have five variables in hand: the light's angle, its height, its distance to the subject, its size, and the distance to the background. Changing each one separately produces another portrait.

The angle decides where the shadow falls on the face: light from the front flattens the face, as it moves to the side the face deepens, as it moves behind only the edges are lit. The height decides the direction of the shadows; a light a little above eye level makes the shadows fall naturally downward. The light's size and its modifier (Lesson 19.7) decide the softness of the shadow edge. The distance to the subject changes both the softness and how quickly the light decreases from one side of the face to the other.

The distance to the background, on the other hand, is most often the most powerful tool that gets overlooked. While the light and the subject stay in place, if you move the subject away from the background, the background stays farther from the light and, by the distance calculation (Lesson 18.2), darkens quickly; a gray paper drops to dark gray, even almost black. If you bring the subject closer to the background, the background comes closer to the light and opens up. This way, with a single light, only by changing steps, you can build portraits with both dark and light backgrounds.

What are feathering and the reflector for?

Feathering is aiming the center of the light not straight at the face but a little in front of or beside it, and lighting the face with the softer edge zone of the light. The middle of a large softbox is brighter than its edges. When you shift the center away from the face, the shine on the face softens, the light's transition from one side of the face to the other becomes more even, and the shadow side opens a little more. Turning the softbox toward the front of the subject carries part of the light to the shadow side; turning it toward the back increases the contrast.

The reflector is the second half of the one-light setup. When placed on the shadow side of the light, it fills the shadows by reflecting part of the key light back (Lesson 18.3). How much light the reflector returns depends largely on its distance: as it comes closer to the face the shadow opens, as it moves away it deepens. A white surface gives a soft, light fill, a silver surface a brighter and more distinct fill. Removing the reflector completely or putting a black surface in its place leaves the shadow as it is or deepens it even more.

How do broad lighting and short lighting differ?

When the person stands not straight toward the camera but turned a little to the side, one side of the face shows more to the camera and the other side less. Broad lighting is the arrangement where the side of the face turned toward the camera, the side that looks wider, is lit. Short lighting, on the other hand, is the arrangement where the side of the face away from the camera, the side that looks narrower, is lit, and the shadow side turns toward the camera.

Both are built with the same light, only by changing the side of the light or of the person. In broad lighting most of the face is lit; the face tends to look more open, wider and flatter. In short lighting there is shadow on the cheek turned toward the camera; the face tends to look deeper, more sculpted and narrower. Which one is chosen is a matter of expression and of how the person wants to see themselves; shooting both frames and looking at them together is most often the best way.

The need for a second light usually appears with a concrete problem a single light can't solve. When a dark-haired person stands in front of a dark background, the edge of the hair merges with the background and the person doesn't separate from it. Bringing the background to a particular tone or wanting a pure white background also requires lighting the background with a separate light. These needs will be taken up in the module's later lessons; but in most portraits a single light and a reflector are enough.

A single light leaves the shadow side differently on different skin tones. On dark skin, especially in short lighting, the shadow cheek turned toward the camera deepens quickly and can merge with a dark background; bringing the reflector closer or switching to the silver surface brings back the detail on the shadow side and the shape of the cheek. The shine on the forehead also stands out if it is close to the light's center; feathering the light a little softens the shine. On light skin, on the other hand, a large light coming from the front can erase the shadows almost completely and the face can flatten; moving the reflector a little away keeps the shape. In every setup you need to enlarge the face and check both the detail and the shape of the shadow side.

How is a lighting diagram drawn?

A lighting diagram is a simple map of a lighting setup drawn as seen from above. In the middle you draw the subject as a circle, the direction of the gaze as a small nose or an arrow; you put the camera, the light, the modifier's shape and direction, the reflector and the background in their places. Next to it you note the light's height, the distances to the subject and to the background, and its power. Such a diagram lets you build a setup again, explain it to someone else, and compare two setups. Because the view from above doesn't show the light's height, adding a small side view next to it or writing the height in meters makes your job easier. Drawing the diagram right after the shoot, while the stands are still in place, is much more reliable than trusting your memory days later. In the module's project you will share every classic pattern with such a drawing.

Visual evidence

In the photo room you seat the teacher about one and a half meters from the background and put the softbox about forty-five degrees to the left of their face, a little above their head. The teacher is turned slightly to the right, away from the light; the light falls on the side of their face away from the camera, and short lighting is built. On their dark skin, the cheek turned toward the camera is in deep shadow and almost merges with the gray background. You put the white reflector to their right, one meter from their face; the cheek opens slightly but is still deep. When you bring the reflector to half a meter and turn its silver side, the shape of the cheek, the gray hairs of their beard and the light in their eye can be made out.

The bright point on their forehead stands out; you turn the softbox a little forward and shift its center in front of their face. The shine turns into a soft glow. Then you move the teacher two more steps away from the background: the gray paper drops to a dark charcoal color and the face stands out in the darkness. Finally you ask them to turn their face toward the light; this time it is broad lighting, and the face is more open and soft. You look at the two frames together and settle on the one in which the teacher recognizes themselves more for the back cover. You also draw the lighting diagram of both setups on your paper.

Common mistakes

Summary

In a one-light setup, portraits very different from each other can be built by managing separately the light's angle, height, distance to the subject, size, and the subject's distance to the background; the background's tone is most often adjusted not with the light's power, but with the subject's distance from the background. Feathering manages shine and transitions by giving the face the light's soft edge, and the reflector fills the shadow side according to its distance; broad lighting tends to show the face open and wide, short lighting deeper and narrower, and the choice is a decision of expression. A lighting diagram puts the setup on paper; a second light is needed only for a concrete need like separation or the background, and on every skin the shadow side is checked by enlarging the face.

Mini assignment

With a single light, which can be a flash, an LED panel or a window, and a white reflector, do the following tries.

1. Keeping the light at the same height, shoot three frames from straight in front, from a diagonal angle and from directly to the side.
2. Shoot two more frames with the subject standing close to the background and two or three steps away from it; note how the background's tone changes.
3. Shoot the same setup as broad lighting and short lighting, and compare the shadow side holding the reflector close to and far from the face.
4. Draw a lighting diagram seen from above of your favorite setup: subject, camera, light, reflector and background, together with their distances.

Check yourself

• With a single light, only by changing distances, were you able to get both a dark and a light background?
• Can you explain the difference between broad lighting and short lighting through the shape of the face?
• While changing the reflector's distance, did you check the detail of the shadow side by enlarging the face?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. When you keep the light and the subject in place and move the subject away from the background, how does the background change?

• A) It opens up
• B) It darkens because it stays farther from the light
• C) Its color changes
• D) It doesn't change

2. What does feathering mean?

• A) Attaching a fabric as light as a feather in front of the light
• B) Aiming the light right at the center of the face
• C) Shifting the center of the light away from the face and lighting the face with the light's soft edge
• D) Reducing the light's power

3. In short lighting, which side is lit?

• A) The side of the face away from the camera
• B) The side of the face turned toward the camera
• C) Only the edge of the hair
• D) The whole face equally

4. In short lighting, a dark-skinned person's shadow cheek turned toward the camera merges with the dark background. What is the most fitting first thing to do?

• A) Double the light's power
• B) Bring the person closer to the background
• C) Move the light straight in front of the person
• D) Bring the reflector closer to the shadow side, or switch to the silver surface

Answers

1. B — As the background moves away from the light, by the inverse square law it receives less light and darkens.
2. C — A softbox's edge is softer than its middle; shifting the center softens the shine and the transition.
3. A — In short lighting the shadow side turns toward the camera, and the lit side stays away from the camera.
4. D — The reflector returns light to the shadow side; as it comes closer, and with the silver surface, the fill increases.

Summary card

• Five variables with one light: angle, height, distance, size and distance to the background.
• Adjust the background's tone with the subject's distance from the background.
• Feathering softens shine and transitions.
• Broad lighting shows open and wide, short lighting deep and narrow; the choice is a decision.
• The reflector's distance decides the shadow; put the setup on paper with a lighting diagram.

Bridge to the next lesson

In the teacher's short-lit portrait, with the softbox forty-five degrees to the side and a little above their head, you noticed a small patch of light on their shadowed cheek: the shadow of the nose and the shadow of the cheek had joined, and between them, under the eye, a small, triangular brightness remained. This small triangle is the signature of a lighting pattern that painters put on canvas centuries ago and that photographers still build today. What is that little triangle on the cheek? The next lesson tells about this classic pattern, at what angle and height the light forms this triangle, and how it is adjusted on different faces.