Lighting

The Fundamentals of Lighting

Low-key Lighting and High-key Lighting

Low-key

This type of lighting tens to leave large areas of the frame in the dark and is used for scenes with a serious, formal or sombre atmosphere. This type of lighting tends to use more side and back lighting.

High-Key

This type of lighting uses a lot of bright, diffused light and tends to produce a flat looking effect with soft edges. High key lighting is used a lot for general scenes to simply light up the subject and would use a lot of big lights with diffusers.

Soft Lighting and Hard lighting

Hard light and Soft light refers to the shadows cast by the light source on the subject.

Soft lighting source - tends to be quite a large light, the larger the light source the softer the light and the shadows produced.
Hard lighting source - tends to be quite a small light, the smaller the light source the harder the light and the shadows produced. However, you can make any hard light softer by reflecting the light onto the subject.

Soft Lighting

Soft lighting casts a shadow that gradients from dark to light as it disperses outward from the subject and has no distinct edge, making for a blended out look. Sometimes soft lighting is so minimal it casts next to no shadows.

Hard Lighting

Hard lighting casts distinct hard-edged shadows that don't blend outwards very much. The shadows are well-defined and make for a harsh look.

Bigger light source / Further distance from subject / Using a reflector or diffuser = Softer Light

Smaller light source / Closer distance to subject = Harder Light

Specular Lighting and Diffused Lighting

To diffuse light and create softer lighting, you need to increase the surface of your light source. Some ways to do this is by shining the light through a soft-box or white sheet. This scatters the rays of light further out, dispersing them more evenly.

You can also adjust how diffused you have your light by changing the distance of your light source to the diffuser.

Specular

A crisp light from a small sized light source, giving hard-edged shadows.

Diffused

A soft light from a large sized light source, giving blended out, soft-edged shadows.

Position of Light Source

The position of you light source can create drastic changes in the way your subject is perceived, taking away details and adding them. You can get very creative with the position of your light and achieve some interesting results. However, when thinking about the position of you light, think about what you are trying to capture in that frame. For example, if you are shooting a close up of your subjects emotions you want to ensure the position of your light accommodates for this.

Intensity of Light Source

Intensity in this context means the brightness and how bright the light source is. There are some things to keep in mind about your light source's intensity in relation to your camera work and those are:

You want to have enough light to get a good exposure on the camera and with particular lenses.
When shooting in slow motion, you need more intense lights.

Light intensity can be used to create high-key lighting, mimicking the sun light or house lights, and to create low-key lighting.

Whenever you first set up your lights on a set you should always check the lamps full range of intensity to understand what you are working with as not all light kits are the same. Although, before checking your lights remember to shout 'SPARK' on set beforehand so your crew know not to look at the lights.

Colour Temperature

Colour temperature is important to consider when shooting because it can change the mood of the shot.

Yellow lighting provides a more warm, cosy effect.
Bluer, starker lighting provides a closed of and clinical effect.

However, thinking more practically, if you are trying to mimic a certain type of light such as natural daylight or houselights colour temperature is very important.

If you are mimicking daylight, go for colder, blue light with a high kelvin reading.
If you are mimicking houselights or filament lights (tungsten), go for a warmer, yellow light with a low kelvin reading.

The Physics of Lighting

Inverse Square Law

The inverse square law is important when it comes to the intensity of your light source and the drop off of the light. The 'drop off of light' refers to how significant the drop in intensity of the light will be when a subject moves away from a light source.

The Inverse Square Law states that, when a subject is close to a light source, then will be a more significant drop off of light. This means the subject can't move very far away before the light doesn't light them up very much.

When the subject is further away from a light source, then there will be a less significant drop off of light. This means the subject can move further away before the light source begins to light them up less.

This is more noticeable when using hard lighting than soft lighting.

Lighting Workshop

Split

Split lighting creates hard shadows across about half of the subjects face. This type of lighting creates a harsh effect and is typically used for more solemn or sinister shots.

My Examples of Split Lighting

Rembrandt

Rembrandt lighting creates a more dynamic look, with hard shadows and some softer shadows. The noticeable effect of this lighting type is the triangle formed on the subject's face.

My Examples of Rembrandt Lighting

Butterfly

This lighting involves having the key light high above the subject looking down on them and creates a diffused look with soft shadows framing the subject's face.

My Examples of Butterfly Lighting

Rim

This type of rim lighting is very creative and used more for abstract or emotionally driven pieces since you can't see the subjects face. The light is behind the subject creating a lit up frame around the subjects silhouette.

This type of rim lighting is a bit more practical and might be used for big moments in a film or for an ethereal halo effect in a fantasy show. There are two lights used for this type of shot, one behind the subject and one to the side/front to light up the subjects face.

My Examples of Rim Lighting

3 Point Lighting

This type of lighting creates a much brighter, natural look and is used a lot for more ordinary shots.

Key light - the main light, usually strongest intensity with most influence over shot. It is always place to the side of the subject (left or right), meaning the side it is on will be the best lit and the other side will have some shadow.
Fill light - the secondary light, usually about half the intensity of the main light and is used to fill the shadows created from the key light. It is always placed on the opposite side of the key light with the same angle towards the subject. The fill light is typically softer than the key light and so you may want to move the light further away from the subject, use a cloth to diffuse the light or use a wider flood than the key light.
Back light - this light doesn't provide much direct light and is used more to define the subject's outline and separate them from the background to create a 3-dimensional look. It is placed behind the subject and has a lower intensity than the fill light.

My Examples of 3-point Lighting

Extra Reading

Using Gels in Lighting

Colour gels can produce aesthetically pleasing looks and allow you to be even more artistically creative with your lighting. In this video, they discuss five ways you can use colour gels and these are:

As a main light
As a mixed light
To colour a background
As a kicker light
As props

Main light - add colour gel to your key light. Gel colours your entire setting a subject as though you are adding a filter to your image and is a great technique for more creative projects.

Mixed main lights - have to front key lights on either side with two different coloured gels. This creates a mixed colour effect and can add a depth to the image.

Colour a background - using a white background and a backlight with a colour gel faced at your background you can change the colour of your background but keep your subject in a natural colour. This is a great way to avoid having to buy multiple coloured backgrounds.

As a kicker light - you can put colour gels on your kicker light to produce a more subtle or muted colour effect.

As props - instead of using colour gels in a conventional way you can also use them as lens filters and even layer multiple colours due to their transparency to provide and abstract effect. You could even use them on your camera flash, if you are shooting with one.

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