Glance at the summary firstThe summary from the end of the lesson, as a road map before you start reading.
Clamshell lighting is built in front of the face with a key light looking down from above and a fill light looking up from below; the photographer shoots through the gap between the two. The two large sources wrap the face and open the shadows in the eye sockets, under the nose and under the chin; because the small shadows that make texture visible shorten, the skin looks smooth, but this is a choice, not a measure of beauty. The fill mostly stays one or two stops behind the key light, and if it is equal the face flattens and the light from below turns eerie; a double glint forms in the eyes, and two bright areas on the forehead and chin on dark skin, and a flattening face on light skin, are checked up close.
Learning goal
By placing two sources in front of the face, one looking down from above and the other looking up from below, you will be able to build clamshell lighting, which almost erases the shadows. You will explain that the key light on top gives the face shape, while the fill light below opens the shadows in the eye sockets, under the nose and under the chin; and why these two sources together wrap the face and make skin texture less visible. By adjusting the fill difference between the two sources in stops, you will decide how flat or how shaped the face will look, notice the double glint that forms in the eyes, and prevent the eerie look that appears when the bottom light gets too strong. You will tell apart that smoothness is not a beauty standard but a lighting choice, and check the shines the two sources leave on the forehead, the chin and the neck on different skin tones.
The question
The band's vocalist has agreed to lend their face to the promotional poster of a small local skincare workshop. The workshop's owner asks you for one thing: there should be no deep shadows on the face, and the skin should look as it is, bright and clean. You hang the softbox straight in front of the vocalist's face, well above their eyes, and put a large white reflector in front of their chest. The result isn't bad, but the slight darkness under their eyes and the dark strip under their chin are still there.
You remove the reflector and in its place put a second light, a long, narrow box lying on a low stand, and turn it up toward the vocalist's chin. In the frame you shoot through the gap between the two lights, the face is completely different: the area under the eyes has opened, the shadow under the nose has been erased, and the area under the chin is filled with a soft light. There are also two separate glints in their eyes; one above, one below.
Why are beauty photos so smooth? Why does putting a second light under the face change a face so much?
Context
While building the butterfly-shadow pattern, we saw that light from above leaves shadows in the eye sockets and under the chin, and that this can be softened with a reflector at chest level (Lesson 20.3). A reflector only sends part of the top light back; how much light it can return is limited and depends on the floor and the angle. Turning the fill from below into a second source with its own power lets you open these shadows as much as you want.
Because this pattern wraps both sides of the face, its top and its bottom with light, it is likened to the two halves of a clamshell opening and closing, and takes its name from this. It is used often in beauty, cosmetics and skincare photos, in promotional portraits and in close-up face shots. It isn't what every portrait needs; but in photos where the skin itself is the subject, it is a powerful tool.
Simple explanation
How is clamshell lighting built?
Clamshell lighting is portrait lighting built with two sources in front of the face, a key light above looking down and a fill light below looking up, which largely opens the shadows. The key light on top stands straight in front of the face and well above eye level, as in the butterfly-shadow pattern; usually a softbox or a beauty dish is used. The bottom fill light, on the other hand, is the second source in front of the face, below chin level, turned upward; most often it is a strip softbox lying horizontally or a wide reflector.
The two sources stand in front of the face like a V or an open shell, and the photographer shoots through the gap between them. Keeping the person quite close to the two sources makes the sources look large to the face and the light wrap the face. When the person leans slightly forward, toward the lights, the face settles in the middle of the two sources.
Why does it look smooth?
Wrapping light is light that comes from wide angles around the face and fills the shadows right into the face's curves. In the clamshell pattern, light from above lights the forehead, the nose and the cheekbones; light from below reaches the eye sockets, under the nose, the curves of the lips and under the chin. When two large sources work together, very few places remain on the face where shadow can gather.
The biggest reason we can make out the texture of skin with the eye is small shadows: pores, fine lines and bumps show through the tiny shadows they leave beside the light falling on them. When light comes from one direction and from the side, these tiny shadows lengthen and texture stands out. When two large sources wrap the face from the front and from two directions, these shadows shorten and fill; the skin looks flatter and smoother. This isn't changing the skin, it is reducing the shadows that make the texture visible.
This smoothness is a choice, not a measure of beauty. The skin's texture, lines and spots aren't a flaw but part of that face; in a character portrait, a working portrait or a photo telling the story of an older face, this texture may be exactly what you want to show. Clamshell lighting is chosen for photos where the texture isn't the subject, or where the skin itself is shown like a product.
How are the fill difference and the eyes adjusted?
The fill difference is the difference in stops between the brightness the key light and the fill light leave on the face. If the bottom light is at the same power as the top one, the face flattens almost completely and the light from below starts to look dominant; the eerie look light creates when it comes from below, which you saw in the previous module (Lesson 19.6), sneaks back. That is why the fill is usually kept one or two stops weaker than the key light: a fill one stop weaker means half as much light as the key light, and it keeps the shape from above on the face while opening the shadows. Widening and narrowing the difference decides how flat or how shaped the face will look. Measuring these ratios is covered in a separate lesson toward the end of the module.
A double catchlight is two separate reflections of light in the eyes, one coming from the top source and one from the bottom, and it is one of the recognized signatures of the clamshell pattern. The top glint usually sits above the pupil, the bottom one right above the lower eyelid. Some photographers find this double glint lively and bright, some clean the bottom one up afterward; this too is a matter of choice.
The two sources leave different shines on different skin tones. On dark skin the top light gathers shine on the forehead and the bridge of the nose, and the bottom light on the tip of the chin and the curve of the upper lip; two separate bright areas form on the face. Feathering the sources a little, or moving the bottom light a little away from the face, softens these areas. On dark skin the fill is very effective at opening the area under the eyes and the curves of the lips, but if it is too strong the neck starts to shine too. On light skin, on the other hand, the two sources can easily turn the skin into a bright white, flat surface; detail can be lost on the forehead, the tip of the nose and under the chin. Turning the fill down a little and watching the overexposure warning on the screen keeps the face's shape. In both cases you need to check the eyes, the forehead, the chin and the neck up close.
Visual evidence
In the workshop's small room, the beauty dish on top is in front of the vocalist's face, about half a meter above their eyes, turned slightly down. Below, in front of their chin and at the height of their chest, a strip box lying horizontally looks up. The camera reaches through the gap between the two. In the first frame you turned the bottom light on at the same power as the top one: the vocalist's face is dead flat, the shape of their nose and chin is lost, and the light from below has given their face a slightly strange air.
You turn the bottom light down by one and a half stops. The face regains its shape from above; a very slight shadow appears under the cheekbones, but the area under the eyes, under the nose and under the chin stays open. On the vocalist's dark skin there are two bright areas, on the forehead and on the tip of the chin; when you feather the beauty dish back a little and move the bottom softbox a hand's span away, the shines soften. In their eyes a glint sits above and another below. The workshop's owner looks at the frame and says the skin looks as it is, but without shadows.
Common mistakes
Common mistakeUsing the bottom fill light equal to the key light or brighter than it.
The face flattens and the light from below gives an eerie air. The fix: keep the fill one or two stops weaker than the key light and check that the face takes its shape from above.
Common mistakeApplying clamshell lighting to every portrait.
Faces that carry character and texture flatten, and their stories are erased. The fix: choose this pattern for photos where the skin itself is the subject or where texture isn't wanted.
Common mistakeKeeping the two sources far from the person.
The sources look small to the face, the wrapping is lost and the shadows get edges. The fix: bring the sources as close to the face as the framing allows, and tilt the person slightly toward the lights.
Summary
Clamshell lighting is built in front of the face with a key light looking down from above and a fill light looking up from below; the photographer shoots through the gap between the two. The two large sources wrap the face and open the shadows in the eye sockets, under the nose and under the chin; because the small shadows that make texture visible shorten, the skin looks smooth, but this is a choice, not a measure of beauty. The fill mostly stays one or two stops behind the key light, and if it is equal the face flattens and the light from below turns eerie; a double glint forms in the eyes, and two bright areas on the forehead and chin on dark skin, and a flattening face on light skin, are checked up close.
Mini assignment
If you don't have a second light for the clamshell pattern, you can build the bottom source with a large white reflector; try both to compare the difference.
- Shoot a person with only the top light, then with a reflector placed below, then, if possible, with a second light placed below; compare the shadows under the eyes and under the chin.
- Keep the bottom source equal to the top one, then turn it down by one stop, then by two stops; take a frame at each step and note the change in the shape of the face.
- Find the double glint in the eyes and match the position of each glint with the position of the lights.
- Shoot the same person both with clamshell lighting and with a single side light; compare how the skin's texture looks in the two frames and ask the person which they prefer.
Check yourself
- Can you explain through small shadows how clamshell lighting produces smoothness?
- When you changed the fill difference, did you see when the face started to flatten?
- On dark and light skin, did you check the shines on the forehead, chin and neck up close?
Glossary
| Term | Short definition |
|---|---|
| Clamshell lighting | Portrait lighting built in front of the face with a key light above and a fill looking up from below, which opens the shadows. |
| Bottom fill light | A fill source in front of the face, below chin level, turned upward. |
| Fill difference | The difference in stops between the brightness the key light and the fill light leave on the face. |
| Double catchlight | Two separate reflections of light in the eyes coming from the top and the bottom source. |
| Wrapping light | Light that comes from wide angles around the face and fills the shadows right into its curves. |
Mini quiz
1. What is the real job of the bottom fill light in clamshell lighting?
- A) Lighting the background
- B) Making the edge of the hair shine
- C) Opening the shadows in the eye sockets, under the nose and under the chin
- D) Splitting the face in two
2. What happens if the fill is at the same power as the key light in clamshell lighting?
- A) The face looks more shaped
- B) The face flattens and the light from below gives an eerie air
- C) The glint in the eyes disappears
- D) The background goes dark
3. Why does clamshell lighting make skin look smoother?
- A) Because it warms the white balance
- B) Because it opens the aperture
- C) Because it physically flattens the skin
- D) Because it shortens and fills the small shadows that make texture visible
4. In a clamshell-lit portrait of a dark-skinned person, two bright areas have formed on the forehead and the tip of the chin. Which is the most fitting correction?
- A) Feather the sources a little and move the bottom light a little away from the face
- B) Make the bottom light even stronger
- C) Remove the top light
- D) Move the person away from the lights
Answers
- C — Light from below reaches the shadows the key light from above leaves, and fills them.
- B — An equal fill erases the shape from above; the light from below becomes dominant.
- D — Texture shows through the small shadows pores and lines leave; two large sources shorten these shadows.
- A — Feathering and a receding bottom light soften the intensity of the two bright areas.
Summary card
- A key light on top looking down, a fill below looking up; shoot between them.
- Two large sources wrap the face, fill small shadows, and the skin looks smooth.
- Smoothness is a choice; texture isn't a flaw.
- Keep the fill one or two stops weaker than the key light; if equal, the face flattens.
- Recognize the double catchlight; check the shine on the forehead, chin and neck on every skin.
Bridge to the next lesson
When the vocalist's promotional portrait went onto the workshop's poster, the band this time wanted a frame with all of them together: four people in dark clothes in front of a dark background. In the first frame you shot with a single key light the faces were lit, but the edges of the hair and shoulders had merged with the background; the four people were like four faces hanging in front of a dark wall. Opening the fill and the face wasn't enough; something needed to separate them from the background. What do a second and a third light add? The next lesson tells about the multi-light setup built with a key light, a fill light and a back light.