There comes a time in a photographer’s life—usually after some consistent success with an on-camera flash—when they say to themselves, "I’m ready to make my own light on demand." Thus begins a seemingly never-ending journey—first mastering the basics, then trying to put some feeling and expression into their photos.
Assuming you’re versed in the use of on-camera flash, the next step is taking the flash off of the camera. This helps to avoid the red-eye effect from direct on-camera flash, for one thing, and to give the face more shape and dimension. The linked guides also provide an excellent overview of how flash works and the essential support and modifying accessories that make off-camera flash setups possible. Flash-camera communication is also foundational, with solutions that boil down to wired and wireless. This article, while aimed at wedding photographers, is an accessible guide that explains the strengths and weaknesses of both wired and wireless off-camera flash systems.
This is probably a good time to say that in addition to conventional on-camera flash units, these setups can be done with both monolights (dedicated off-camera strobes) and constant lights, the latter of which affords you the advantage of seeing how the light strikes your subject and pre-visualizing your portrait before you trip the shutter. For those who prefer strobes, note that many moonlight units also come with a built-in modeling light feature that allows the same previsualization.
Since most photographers begin their off-camera flash journey with portraits, this involves a well-trodden path of “formalizing the arrangement” to some extent. With this in mind, let's take a look at some quick and easy portrait setups that can be accomplished with a single light source.
Setup 1: 45/45
That's what I call it, anyway. Throughout this article, I'll give the setups names that work for me mixed with traditional names.
Anyway, 45/45 means 45 degrees off-axis and 45 degrees of the portrait subject and 45 degrees of vertical tilt, with the flash bounced into or shot through an umbrella. The light stand can go 45 degrees left or right of your subject and if they're seated on a stool, the stand should be extended about 5'. The umbrella shaft should be pointed down toward your subject. This gives you a nice ratio of light between the light and dark sides of the face—probably two to three times brighter. It's also a good setup to use a reflector card aimed at the dark side of the face, pulled closer or pushed further away depending on the light level you prefer. Try the refinements below to sample the effects of a reflector. Note the quality of light as you change from one surface to the next.
Refinement 1: Add a light stand with a white card to fill in. Change to a silver card, then a gold card. Note the filled in shadow on the dark side of the face.
Refinement 2: Place the umbrella closer and at a 30 degree angle pointed down. Place the card in the subject's lap at the optimal angle reflective angle to illuminate the face as observed from the camera position. Note the fill light from underneath.
Setup 2: Beauty Lighting
While this is normally done with a beauty dish, a convertible umbrella with its black backing removed will give a usable approximation. After you remove the black backing, we're going to point the convex curve of the umbrella toward the subject. Think of it as the opposite of the traditional bounce mode. Position the umbrella fairly close and at a somewhat extreme angle pointed down with the center shaft aimed at the center of the subjects face. The interesting thing about the translucent umbrella is that it does provide a somewhat crisp rendering of details akin to the Beauty Dish but with its open back there's a lot of light bouncing around the room that has the effect of lowering the overall contrast. For this reason, you'll probably want to use light-colored backgrounds or chroma keying. This setup is also a good candidate for fill light from a card placed in your subject's lap.
Setup 3: Rembrandt Lighting
Named after the painter, this sort of light is a more extreme version of our first setup, "45/45." The umbrella now has its black backing on so as to contain spill light. Rembrandt lighting is nearly always done in a darkened or darkish room or studio. The umbrella height for a seated subject is about 6' with the umbrella pointed down 45 degrees. You want to move the light about 55 to 60 degrees off-axis in relation to the camera. What you're looking for is a small triangle of light on the darker, further away side of the face. An FYI for purists: a perfect triangle is joined at its bottom but don't worry if yours is not. It just has to look good. If you'd like a lighter ratio of light for the dark side of the face you can employ the bounce card refinement.
Setup 4: Split Lighting
Split lighting takes Rembrandt light a step further in locating the light 90 degrees off access to the camera. The technique gets its name from the "splitting "of the face into light and dark halves for dramatic purposes. Ideally only the dark side's eye picks up a tiny sliver of light, but the shape of some faces just makes this impossible. This is another instance where the refinement might be a reflective card on the dark side to reveal detail in the face or further back to light the hair and separate the subject from the background.
Setup 5: Broad Lighting and Short Lighting
These setups often occur naturally during an active portrait session. Position the light and umbrella as we did in the 45/45 setup. Broad lighting happens when the subject's face is turned in such a way the light is on the largest (broadest) part of the face that the camera sees. Short lighting is the exact opposite the broadest part of the face is in shadow, while the far (short) side of the face is in the light.
Probably the best part of breaking down a process is that it calls your attention to its elements. Where is the light falling? How is it reflected? What is its mood? How can I recreate it?
We're usually moving too fast, but the truth is that we're walking right past hundreds of portraits every day, each with its own special lighting. You just have to train yourself to look. And when you do that naturally, you'll find that you've actually learned to see.
For more information on portrait setups, strobes, and other creative lighting applications, be sure to browse our other Explora offerings.
