The Eminent Role of Lighting in Portrait Photography!

Snippet - The equipment and expertise play an important role in professional portrait photography. But top of all, lighting plays an eminent role in getting a classy, sassy portrait.

It goes without saying that lighting is an integral part of an appealing portrait. Lighting displays the mood and tone of the portrait image. For dramatic lighting portrait photography, it is essential to control the range and volume of light to get the best texture and vibrancy on your photo subjects.

Let’s see how to control the lighting in order to capture an eye-catching portrait image. 

Light Positioning

The source of the light and the way it falls on your subject puts a huge impact on the quality of the portrait. For instance, light coming from behind the camera and pointing straight gives quite flat lighting. However, the important point to note is that it causes shadows to fall in the background of the image, which gives a dark and mellow tone to the subject of the portrait image.

Shape of Light

Along with the light positioning, the shape of light similarly puts an equivalent emphasis on the portrait’s quality. It is advisable to add a diffuser to the light source that can help to reduce glare and sharp shadows and reduce blemishes on the subject. There are plenty of ways to diffuse the light-

• Using softboxes
• Using umbrellas
• Any heatproof material

Manipulate the Light

Using photography reflectors makes it possible to manipulate the light to fall on the subject. The reflectors shape sunlight with an area to highlight. Light shapers also help cover an area by enabling more control over the light’s direction and letting the light cover a broad area.

Top Portrait Lighting Techniques, these are Fundamental Techniques.

Certain portrait lighting techniques are defined in the photography fraternity. It would be best to get a portrait done using these techniques with the expertise of professional photo portrait services. Following are some of those techniques-

Rembrandt Lighting

Named after a famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt lighting leaves a triangle-shaped light under the left eye of the subject. It gives the portrait a mysterious and peculiar look.

Split Lighting

Split lighting lights half the face and leaves the rest of the face with a shadow. It is of liberating technique that allows changing the rules because the photographer has the liberty to fill the shadows with a reflector how much or how little they want.

Paramount Lighting

Using this technique, lighting is required to place higher above the subject, which causes the subject’s nose to cast a shadow, resembling a butterfly. Paramount lighting appeals to women because it brightens the face and highlights the cheekbones.

 

To look confident, bold, and dramatic simultaneously, you need professional photo portrait services. If you are looking for one, get in touch with KRP Photography, owned by Kateshia Pendergrass is Portland’s expert black woman photographer.