When you have your light source facing directly at the front of your subject, this is flat lighting. Flat lighting on a face will mean that your subject is well lit and you are unable to see any shadows along their face. This is not a heavily desired look in portraits as you need shadows to draw your subject to life. 

Split lighting is a type of side lighting but it is defined as light that hits your subject from the side at a 90 degree angle, you’ll see the shadow line straight down the middle of the forehead, nose, and chin.

Split lighting tends to make your subject look tough and masculine so you want to really consider your subject when choosing this type of lighting.

Backlight is light that comes from behind your subject. Sources of backlight can include a window behind your subject in the middle of the day to a flash placed behind with a colourful gel for something fun. Or a simple backlight like this case.

This lighting is a configuration where two lights are placed facing toward your subject at a 45-degree angle. Your key light is facing downwards at a 45-degree angle and your fill light is a facing upwards at a 45-degree angle, or a Butterfly plus a reflector.

Loop lighting is pretty much my go-to when creating light. With loop lighting, the light is about 45 degrees to the side and slightly above eye level.

This position of the light creates a shadow just under and to the side of one nostril and the nose. This is a flattering type of light on most everyone.

This lighting is achieved when there is a tiny triangle of light falling beneath your subject’s eye on the shaded side of their face.

The reason this lighting technique is so popular is because of the dimension and depth it adds to portraiture. That is what makes a photograph so interesting and pleasing to the eye.

Another type of side lighting, short light is the opposite of broad light in that the face is at an angle and the shadow falls on the side of the face closest to the camera. This type of light works well to thin a face and is flattering on most people.

With broad light (a type of side lighting), the face of your subject is at an angle and the most well-lit side of the face is closest to the camera and the shadow falls on the back side of the face. This type of light can make a face look fuller so it’s ideal for those with very narrow faces.

Cross lighting is nothing more than using two light sources that oppose each other in their direction.