Rembrandt lighting

Learning goal

With a single key light, you will be able to build Rembrandt lighting, which leaves a small light triangle on the shadowed cheek, and explain how this triangle forms through the meeting of the nose shadow and the cheek shadow. You will show why light coming from about forty-five degrees to the side and from above eye level produces this shadow pattern; and when the triangle doesn't close, becomes too small, or the eye in shadow goes dark, you will know how to correct the light or the face angle. You will see why the same setting gives different results on faces with different nose structures, compare how a hard and a soft source change the triangle's edge, and adjust the fill so that the triangle doesn't get lost in the shadow on different skin tones.

The question

The neighborhood watchmaker is celebrating the shop's fiftieth year and wants a portrait to hang in the window. You set up a single softbox in the shop's back room and seat the watchmaker at their workbench. As you learned from earlier shoots, you place the light at a diagonal angle to their face, a little above their head, and turn the watchmaker slightly away from the light. When you press the shutter, something on the screen catches your attention: on the half of their face left in shadow, right under their eye, there is a small, bright triangle. The shadow of the nose has come down, joined the shadow of the cheek, and left this bright island between them.

Looking at the photo, the watchmaker says, "I look like an old oil painting." What is that little triangle on the cheek? Why does it look so familiar, and how can you build it on purpose?

Context

In the one-light portrait you saw how changing the light's angle, height and distance produces different shadows on the face. Some of these shadow patterns are used so often that they have names. Classic portrait lighting teaches these named patterns like an alphabet: each one appears when the light stands in a particular place and leaves a recognizable trace on the face.

Rembrandt lighting is one of the best-known letters of this alphabet. It takes its name from Rembrandt, the Dutch painter who lived in the seventeenth century; in his portraits this pattern is often seen, lighting the face with a single light coming from the side and from above and leaving a small brightness on the shadow side. This lesson tells how to build that pattern in photography and how to adjust it on different faces.

Simple explanation

How does the light triangle form?

Rembrandt lighting is portrait lighting in which the key light, coming from one side of the face and from above, leaves a small light triangle on the cheek of the shadow side, under the eye. The light triangle is this bright area left between two shadows. Three things draw the triangle's three sides: the area under the eye above, the nose shadow on one side, and the cheek shadow on the other.

The nose shadow is the shadow the light casts on the other side of the face by hitting the nose. Because the light comes from the side and from above, this shadow comes down diagonally. The cheek shadow, on the other hand, is the part of the side of the face away from the light that stays in the dark along with the turn of the cheekbone. When the light is in the right place, the nose shadow comes down and touches the cheek shadow, and the two shadows join. The small area above this join, right under the eye, that still receives light is the triangle.

The general starting point for building this pattern is to put the key light about forty-five degrees to the side of the face and clearly above eye level. The person most often turns a little away from the light; this creates a pattern close to the short lighting you met in the previous lesson, and the shadow cheek with the triangle faces the camera. But these angles aren't a recipe, they are a beginning; every face needs small adjustments.

How is the triangle adjusted?

The solution to problems with the triangle is most often in the light's position. Sometimes the triangle doesn't close: the nose shadow comes down but doesn't touch the cheek shadow, and an open gap remains between them. In this case the light is coming too much from the front of the face; the nose shadow stays short. Moving the light a little more to the side or a little higher, or turning the person's face a little more away from the light, lengthens the shadow and connects it to the cheek. This shadow that doesn't close also has its own name, and it will be taken up in a later lesson of the module.

The opposite can happen too: the triangle becomes very small or disappears completely, and the eye in shadow stays in the dark. In this case the light is coming too much from the side or too much from above; the eye itself has also gone into shadow. Moving the light a little forward or a little lower enlarges the triangle and lets the eye in shadow receive light too. Many photographers want a small glint to be seen in the eye in shadow as well; when the eye stays in the dark, the face can lose its liveliness.

The face angle is how much the person turns their face relative to the camera and the light, and it is the fastest way to adjust the triangle without moving the light. As the person turns their face away from the light, the nose shadow lengthens toward the cheek; as they turn toward the light, it shortens. After setting up the light, asking for small head movements is most often easier than fiddling with stands.

What changes on different faces and skin tones?

The same light doesn't produce the same triangle on every face, because the length of the nose shadow depends on the structure of the nose. A prominent, long nose casts a long shadow and closes the triangle easily. On a face with a low nose bridge or a small nose, for example in many children, the shadow stays short, and to close the triangle the light needs to be moved further to the side or higher. Round, full cheeks make the cheek shadow wider; on thin faces the cheek shadow is narrower. That is why a setting that works on one face is tried again on the next.

The size of the source decides the triangle's edge. A small, hard source, a bare flash or the sun, draws a sharp-edged, crisp triangle. A large softbox softens the edges; the triangle stays distinct but blends slowly into the shadows. Which one is chosen depends on the character of the photo.

Because the triangle sits on the shadow side, it looks different depending on the color of the skin. On dark skin the shadow cheek is already deep, and the small triangle can get lost if it doesn't carry enough difference from the shadow. Setting the exposure only for the lit cheek darkens the triangle too. Putting a reflector on the shadow side and bringing it closer, or moving the light a little forward to enlarge the triangle, keeps it distinct. On light skin, on the other hand, the triangle is easily made out, but if the difference between the shadow and the lit cheek is very large, the face can look harsh; opening the shadow slightly with a reflector softens the face without erasing the triangle. In the end you need to open the face up close and check the detail of the triangle, the eye and the shadow cheek together.

Visual evidence

In the back room you seat the watchmaker at their workbench. The softbox is at a diagonal angle to their face, a hand's span above their head. The watchmaker looks slightly away from the light, down and to the side, as if examining a watch. In the first frame the nose shadow comes down but doesn't touch the cheek; an open strip remains between the two shadows. You ask the watchmaker to turn their face a little more to the side; the nose shadow lengthens and joins the cheek shadow, and a bright triangle appears under their eye.

On the watchmaker's dark skin the triangle stays faint inside the shadow cheek; their eye is also close to dark. You lower the softbox a little and move it one step forward, and bring a white reflector closer to the shadow side. The triangle grows and becomes distinct, a small glint appears in the eye in shadow, and the wrinkles on the shadow cheek start to be made out. On the lit cheek, there is a soft transition from the forehead down to the chin. The watchmaker looks at the new frame and smiles: the oil painting is still there, but both halves of their face are now themselves.

Common mistakes

Summary

Rembrandt lighting is built with a key light coming from about forty-five degrees to the side and from above eye level; when the nose shadow comes down and joins the cheek shadow, a small light triangle remains on the shadowed cheek, under the eye. If the triangle doesn't close, the light is too far forward; if the eye goes dark, it is too far to the side or too high; the fastest adjustment is most often the person's face angle, and faces with different nose structures need different adjustments. The size of the source softens or sharpens the triangle's edge; the fill is adjusted with a reflector so that on dark skin the triangle doesn't get lost in the shadow and on light skin the face doesn't turn harsh, and the result is checked by enlarging the face.

Mini assignment

A single source is enough for these tries, even a window; take a light-colored reflective surface beside it for the shadow side.

1. Put the light at a diagonal angle and above eye level and shoot a person; look at whether a triangle forms on the shadow cheek.
2. If the triangle doesn't close, close it by changing only the face angle; in the frame where it closes, note the position of the light and the face.
3. Move the light too high and too far to the side and see the eye in shadow go dark, then bring it back until a glint appears in the eye.
4. Try the same setup with two people with different face structures or different skin tones, and write down, together with a lighting diagram, what you changed for each one to keep the triangle distinct.

Check yourself

• Looking at a portrait, can you explain from the light's position why the triangle doesn't close or why it has shrunk?
• Without moving the light, were you able to adjust the triangle only with the face angle?
• On dark and light skin, did you look up close at whether the triangle could be made out on the shadow cheek?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Which two shadows draw the triangle in Rembrandt lighting?

• A) The eyebrow shadow and the chin shadow
• B) The hair shadow and the neck shadow
• C) The nose shadow and the cheek shadow
• D) The ear shadow and the shoulder shadow

2. The nose shadow comes down but doesn't touch the cheek shadow. Where is the light most likely?

• A) It is coming too much from the front of the face
• B) It is coming too much from the side
• C) It is coming too much from above
• D) It is behind the subject

3. What is the fastest way to adjust the triangle without moving the light?

• A) Changing the flash's power
• B) Stopping down the aperture
• C) Changing the white balance
• D) Changing the person's face angle

4. The triangle on a dark-skinned person's shadow cheek gets lost inside the shadow. What is the most fitting first step?

• A) Cut the exposure a little more for the lit cheek
• B) Bring a reflector closer to the shadow side, or move the light a little forward
• C) Move the light further to the side
• D) Remove the softbox and use a bare flash

Answers

1. C — The nose shadow comes down and joins the cheek shadow; a bright triangle remains between them under the eye.
2. A — Light from the front keeps the nose shadow short; moving the light to the side or higher lengthens the shadow.
3. D — Turning the face away from the light lengthens the nose shadow, turning it toward the light shortens it.
4. B — A reflector opens the shadow side, moving the light forward enlarges the triangle; both separate it from the shadow.

Summary card

• Start: a diagonal angle and above eye level.
• The nose shadow joins the cheek shadow; a light triangle remains under the eye.
• If it doesn't close, the light is too far forward; if the eye goes dark, too far to the side or too high.
• The fastest adjustment is the face angle; every face structure is tried again.
• On dark skin keep the triangle distinct with a reflector, and check by enlarging the face.

Bridge to the next lesson

When the watchmaker's apprentice also wanted a portrait beside the master, this time you moved the softbox straight in front of their face and a little above. Both halves of the face were in the same light, but right under the nose, above the lip, a small, symmetrical shadow appeared; it looked like a butterfly with its wings open. Where does the butterfly shadow under the nose come from? The next lesson tells about this classic pattern, where the light stands straight in front and above, and the symmetrical trace it leaves on the face.