Butterfly lighting

Learning goal

By putting the key light straight in front of the face and above it, you will be able to build butterfly lighting, which leaves a symmetrical butterfly shadow under the nose. You will explain why, because the light comes straight from the front, the nose shadow falls straight down instead of to the side, and how the same light creates secondary shadows under the cheekbones and under the chin. By changing the light height you will adjust the butterfly's size, the depth of the eye sockets and the sharpness of the neck shadow; you will notice how the pattern breaks down when the person turns their head, and how shines appear on glasses and on the forehead. You will see how a fill from below opens the eyes, and check what light coming straight from the front leaves on the forehead, the bridge of the nose and the eye sockets on different skin tones.

The question

The watchmaker's apprentice, seeing the master's portrait, wants one for themselves too; they will use it on the web page they are about to open. This time you lift the softbox in the back room and hang it straight in front of them, about an arm's length above their face, and you place the camera right under the softbox, facing the apprentice's face. In the frame you shoot, both halves of the apprentice's face are equally lit; there is no triangle on the cheek, nor a shadow splitting the face in two. But right under their nose, toward the middle of their upper lip, there is a small, symmetrical shadow. It looks like a small butterfly with its wings spread to both sides. Two soft shadows have also appeared under their cheekbones, and the area under their chin darkens toward their neck.

Where does the butterfly shadow under the nose come from? Why does giving light straight from the front, which should flatten the face, give it shape instead?

Context

In Rembrandt lighting the key light was on one side of the face, and the shadows fell on the other side of the face. In the previous module we also saw that light coming straight from the front flattens the face; but that light was coming from the same height as the lens. When you keep the light straight in front but raise it clearly upward, the shadows fall not to the side but downward. The face stays flat from side to side but gains shape from top to bottom.

Because this pattern gives a symmetrical, clean look, it is used often in beauty, fashion and promotional portraits. Unlike the character of Rembrandt lighting, which divides the face into two different halves, butterfly lighting keeps the two halves of the face equal to each other. This lesson tells how to build this pattern, adjust its height, and how it behaves on which faces.

Simple explanation

How does the butterfly shadow form?

Butterfly lighting is portrait lighting in which the key light is placed straight in front of the face and well above eye level, leaving a symmetrical shadow under the nose. It takes its name from the shape of this shadow, which looks like a butterfly with its wings spread. The butterfly shadow is this small shadow right under the tip of the nose, stretching toward the upper lip and opening symmetrically to both sides.

Because the light comes straight from the front of the face, the nose's shadow slides neither right nor left; it only falls downward. The higher the light, the further down the shadow stretches. Because the light stands straight in front of the face, the two halves of the face are lit equally and the shadows are symmetrical too. In practice this most often means building the light right above the camera, extending it in front of the face with the arm of a light stand; the photographer shoots from under the light.

The same light also leaves other shadows on the face. A cheekbone shadow is the soft shadow light from above leaves in the hollow below the cheekbones as it hits their prominence; it makes the face's bone structure stand out. A neck shadow, on the other hand, is the shadow the chin casts on the neck; it separates the jawline from the neck and sets the face in a clearer frame. These secondary shadows are the reason light from the front gives the face shape instead of flattening it.

What does light height change?

Light height is how far above the subject's eye level the key light stands, and it is the most important setting of butterfly lighting. As the light lowers, the butterfly shortens, the cheekbone and neck shadows weaken and the face starts to flatten. As the light rises, the butterfly lengthens, the cheekbone shadows deepen and the neck shadow darkens.

Taking the light too high has a price. The eyebrows act like eaves over the eyes, and when the light comes from very high the eye sockets go into shadow; the eyes stay in the dark and the gaze is lost. The butterfly also lengthens, touches the upper lip and spoils the shape of the mouth. Many photographers use as a starting measure that the butterfly ends somewhere between the tip of the nose and the upper lip, and that a glint is seen in both eyes. This isn't a rule, but a checkpoint that keeps the eyes and the mouth readable.

A common way to soften the shadow in the eye sockets is to put a reflector at the person's chest level, below the face. Part of the light coming from above reflects back from below, filling the eye sockets, the area under the chin and under the nose slightly. The closer and brighter the reflector, the stronger this fill. The form of this under fill built with a separate light will be taken up under its own name in a later lesson of the module.

How does it behave on which faces and skin tones?

Butterfly lighting takes its most distinct form when the person holds their face straight toward the camera. As the person turns their head to the side, the nose shadow slides to the side too and the symmetry breaks down; the shadow starts to stretch toward the cheek. That is why, when working with butterfly lighting, you need either to move the light together with the direction of the person's face, or to ask the person to keep their face toward the light.

Light from straight in front is difficult for glasses. Light can reflect off the lens of the glasses and return straight to the lens of the camera, and bright spots form in front of the eyes. Raising the light a bit or asking the person to tilt their head very slightly forward moves the reflection out of the frame. Long bangs and hat brims also cast shadows on the forehead and eyes under light coming from above.

Light coming straight from the front and from above gathers shines on the most prominent areas of the face, that is, on the forehead, the bridge of the nose and the tops of the cheekbones. On dark skin these shines can look like a bright strip running down the middle of the face; at the same time, deep eye sockets darken quickly and the eyes can be lost. Lowering the light a little or putting a reflector under it opens the eyes, and feathering the softbox softens the shines. On light skin, on the other hand, the forehead and the tip of the nose can easily blow out to white, while the shadows can look cold and grayish; setting the exposure for the bright areas and watching the overexposure warning on the screen keeps the detail on the forehead. In every setup you need to check the eyes, the forehead and the butterfly's size together by enlarging the face.

Visual evidence

In the back room the softbox is straight in front of the apprentice's face, about half a meter above eye level; the camera is right under the softbox. In the first frame the butterfly shadow has come down to their upper lip and their eyes are buried in darkness under their eyebrows. On the apprentice's dark skin, a bright strip runs from their forehead to the tip of their nose. When you lower the softbox by a hand's span, the butterfly shortens and ends between the tip of the nose and the lip, and small glints appear in the eyes.

Then you put a white reflector in front of the apprentice's chest, on their lap. The shadow in the eye sockets opens slightly, the area under their chin lights up a little, but the neck shadow still makes the jawline stand out. When you feather the softbox a little forward, the bright strip on their forehead turns into a soft glow. When the apprentice puts on their glasses and wants one more frame, two white spots appear on the lenses; when you ask them to tilt their head very slightly forward, the spots disappear from the frame.

Common mistakes

Summary

Butterfly lighting is built when the key light stands straight in front of the face and well above the eyes; the nose shadow falls not to the side but downward and leaves a symmetrical butterfly shadow under the nose, while the cheekbone and neck shadows give the face shape. The light height decides the butterfly's size and the depth of the eye sockets; if the light is too high the eyes go dark and the butterfly touches the lip, and a reflector from below softens these shadows. The pattern is distinct while the face is turned toward the camera; care is taken with reflections on glasses, and the shines gathering on the forehead and the bridge of the nose and the eye sockets are checked up close on dark and light skin separately.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will keep the light straight in front of the person and play only with its height.

1. Shoot three frames putting the light straight in front of the face, a little, moderately and far above eye level; compare the butterfly's size and the state of the eyes.
2. At the medium height, place a reflector at chest level; put the frames with and without the reflector side by side and note the change in the eye sockets.
3. Shoot three frames asking the person to turn their head slowly to the side; find the moment the symmetry breaks.
4. With someone wearing glasses, or with a pair of glasses, move the reflection on the lens out of the frame by raising the light and tilting the head slightly.

Check yourself

• Looking at the butterfly's size, can you guess how high the light is?
• When the eyes started to go dark, were you able to choose between lowering the light and adding a fill from below?
• Did you compare the shine on the forehead and the bridge of the nose and the eye sockets on different skin tones?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Why does the nose shadow fall downward instead of to the side in butterfly lighting?

• A) Because the light comes from behind the face
• B) Because the light comes straight from the front of the face and from above
• C) Because the light is below eye level
• D) Because a softbox is used

2. In butterfly lighting, if the eyes are buried in darkness under the eyebrows, what is the light most likely doing?

• A) It is very low
• B) It is to the side of the face
• C) It is very large
• D) It is very high

3. What is a common way to soften the shadow in the eye sockets without moving the light?

• A) Putting a reflector at chest level, below the face
• B) Stopping down the aperture
• C) Turning the person's head to the side
• D) Holding the camera vertically

4. On a dark-skinned person's face, a bright strip runs from the forehead to the tip of the nose and the eyes go dark. Which is the most fitting correction?

• A) Raise the light even higher
• B) Replace the softbox with a bare flash
• C) Lower the light a little, put a reflector under it and feather the softbox
• D) Ask the person to turn their head to the side

Answers

1. B — Light from straight in front doesn't slide the shadow to the side; because it comes from above, it makes it fall downward.
2. D — When the light is very high, the eyebrows act like eaves over the eyes and the eye sockets go into shadow.
3. A — The reflector below reflects part of the light coming from above back into the eye sockets and under the chin.
4. C — A lowered light and a fill from below open the eyes, and feathering softens the bright strip.

Summary card

• The light straight in front, well above the eyes; the photographer shoots from under the light.
• The nose shadow falls downward: a symmetrical butterfly under the nose.
• The cheekbone and neck shadows give the face shape.
• The light height decides the butterfly's size and the eye sockets; a reflector from below opens the eyes.
• Watch for reflections on glasses, the shine on the forehead and the eye sockets on every skin.

Bridge to the next lesson

After the apprentice's portrait, you tried an experiment, slowly sliding the light from straight in front toward the side. The butterfly slid to one side and came down onto the cheek beside the nose like a small loop; when you moved the light even further to the side, to a full ninety degrees, one half of the face stayed lit and the other half completely dark. Two stops along the way gave two separate moods. What does a light that splits the face in two say? The next lesson compares the loop-shaped shadow between butterfly and Rembrandt, and the light that splits the face right down the middle.