provide more contrast than certain frontlit lighting patterns, such as butterfly and clamshell lightingīecause broad lighting tends to broaden (!) the face, use it when photographing subjects with a narrow face, but avoid broad lighting setups on subjects with wider faces this can exaggerate their face shape.Īlso, if there’s a feature on one side of your subject’s face that you’d like to deemphasize, simply position the feature on the short side of the face and use broad lighting to enshroud it in shadow.usually throw the short side of the face in shadow (depending on light placement).Here’s a simple way to set up broad lighting (though remember: you can use broad lighting with many lighting patterns).įirst, position your key (main) light 45 degrees from your subject, as illustrated in the diagram below:īroad lighting will affect your portraits in several clear ways.
#Lights out short vs feature how to
Make sense? How to capture beautiful broad lighting photography (step by step)īroad lighting looks great, but how is it done? In this section, I’ll give you a step-by-step plan for creating a broad lighting setup, and I’ll also explain when you might want to use this lighting pattern. Once you’ve positioned your subject and added the strobes, by photographing from one side of their face, you’ll get broad lighting – but ask them to turn their head/body to the other side, and you’ll get short lighting, instead. Technically, whether you use broad or short lighting has more to do with the subject’s head angle than the angle of the light on their face. You can also combine broad or short lighting with loop lighting and split lighting. For instance, you might combine broad or short lighting with a Rembrandt pattern (where you light from the side to produce a triangle under the subject’s cheek).
Note that short and broad lighting can be used in combination with many standard lighting patterns. The image on the left features short lighting, while the image on the right features broad lighting: With broad lighting, you light the side of the face that is closer to the camera.Īnd with short lighting, you light the side of the face that is farther from the camera.Ĭheck out the two images below.
What is broad and short lighting?īroad lighting and short lighting simply refer to the side of the face that is lit by your strobe. So whether you’re a beginner looking to expand your knowledge of portrait photography, or you’re an advanced studio photographer hoping to deepen your knowledge of a classic technique, you’ve come to the right place.
How to use broad and short lighting for beautiful portraits.What broad and short lighting actually is.But they’re a great way to add variety to your portraiture, and as you’ll soon see, they’re easy to produce!īelow, I’ll share everything you need to know for gorgeous broad and short lighting setups, including: Understanding the differences between these two studio lighting patterns can be difficult, especially when you’re just starting out. What is broad lighting in portrait photography? And what is short lighting?
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