By James Booth
Portrait lighting can be one of the more difficult things to learn in photography, particularly if you're doing it by trial and error. God knows, it took me long enough, and I am still by no means an expert.
You don't need to have a bunch of fancy equipment to get decent portraits. All you really need is a basic understanding of how lighting works, and a couple of proven lighting setups to get good pictures.
The equipment
Multiple lights, fancy reflectors, and expensive equipment aren't required to get decent portraits, but they sure help.
Seriously, though... You can shoot portraits with just a single flash unit. You need to be willing to accept a lower level of quality though.
You just can't get studio-quality portraits with only one light, unless you're going for an artistic approach. Artistic photography really isn't the focus of this article, but rather the more traditional studio portrait.
I've seen lighting setups ranging from one to five lights, but two lights is the most common, by far. In this article, I'll cover both single-light and double-light setups, showing the benefits and pitfalls of each.
When using more than one flash, a requirement is a slave flash unit. A slave is a photo receptor cell that will trigger a flash to fire when it senses a burst of light. Because light travels faster than any shutter can operate, the microsecond delay between the firing of the first flash and any subsequent ones won't matter.
Some flash units come with built-in slaves, but most don't. For units that don't have a built-in slave, you can buy external ones that you plug the synch cord into. The one I use has a suction cup to attach itself to the flash, and it seems to me that I paid about $15 for it.
Reflectors, umbrellas and softboxes aren't a requirement for portraiture, but they definitely help. By softening the light, these items make your photos less harsh and reduce shadows, giving you better results. There are also some budget methods of reproducing these that I'll cover.
One light
Many cameras now come with an on-camera flash. While this is fine for snapshots, it's really not the best thing for portraiture. Figure A shows a portrait that was taken with a single, on-camera flash.
FIGURE A
A single on-camera flash is not ideal for portrait work. (click for larger image)
Note the deep shadows on either side of the subject. This really isn't what you're looking for in a portrait. You also risk the dreaded red-eye when using an on-camera flash, as the light is directly in front of the subject's eyes.
The photo in Figure A is a good example of the downside to using a single light. You're going to have shadows. There's almost no way to avoid them.
In some instances, such as in artistic photography, or portrait for effect, you'll want these kinds of shadows. For standard portrait photography though, you'll want to eliminate shadows.
Figure B shows an example of shadow for effect. This is known as the "Rembrandt effect," although a rather mild version of it, with one side of the subject illuminated, and the other in shadow. In this particular instance, it was a mistake though. One of my flashes failed to fire.
FIGURE B
A flash that failed to fire resulted in a Rembrandt effect. (click for larger image)
For portrait lighting with a single light, you'll need an off-camera flash. If your camera has a PC or hot shoe connector, then you can use an external flash and cable to move the flash away from the camera. By positioning the flash at an oblique angle from the camera and subject, you'll be able to make the shadows more manageable.
Figure C shows how you can position a single, off-camera flash in order to reduce shadow. You'll still have some shadow, particularly under the nose, chin and behind the subject. By getting the camera and light in just the right positions, you can reduce or hide the shadows pretty well.
FIGURE C
Single flash portraits are possible with the correct setup. (click for larger image)
A reflector positioned below and in front of the subject will help reflect light under the chin and nose, reducing or eliminating those shadows. You can also tape a piece of tissue or tracing paper over the light. This acts as a diffuser, similar to a softbox, and will soften the light, reducing harshness.
Two lights
Using two lights will provide the best results for portrait work. By positioning the lights appropriately, you can eliminate or cancel out any viewable shadows. Again, the use of umbrellas, reflectors, or softboxes can soften and smooth the light.
Figure D shows one lighting setup that I use quite frequently.
FIGURE D
This setup can be used to enhance one aspect of a subject. (click for larger image)
The key, or main light is positioned at a 450 angle from the subject. The secondary, or fill light is then placed next to the camera. You want to place the lights at the level of the subject, or just slightly above. You can see from the illustration how the lights will cancel out the shadows from one another, with the only shadow being directly behind the subject and not visible.
Figure E shows another two-light setup.
FIGURE E
This is great general use lighting configuration. (click for larger image)
In this case, the lights are placed an equal distance from the subject, both at a 450 angle. Provided you're using lights of equal strength, it won't matter which one is the key light and which the fill light. If one is stronger than the other though, you'll want to make that the key light. Keep in mind that this setup has the potential to take up a lot of space, which is why I frequently use the configuration from Figure C.
Even if your camera doesn't have a connection for an external flash, you can still use one to reduce, or control shadows. You can use your on-camera flash as the main light to trigger a slaved external flash.
In this instance, your setup would be like that in Figure D, only with the key and fill lights reversed. Make sure that you disable your camera's red-eye reduction; otherwise it will trigger the slave to fire before the shutter is open. If you're not sure how to disable your camera's red-eye reduction, this would be a great excuse to sit down with some good coffee and re-read your manual.
The portrait in Figure F shows the kind of result you're going for. Everything is in focus and well illuminated, with no shadows.
FIGURE F
When correctly lit, your portraits will much more satisfying. (click for larger image)
Reflection and softening
The use of umbrella reflectors will go a long way toward making your pictures -- all of them, not just portraits -- a lot better looking. The umbrella helps to soften and diffuse the light, eliminating harshness. By shooting light through the umbrella, rather than reflecting off of it, the umbrella will act like a softbox, further softening the light.
There are a few budget remedies available if you don't have umbrellas. One is to use white poster board as a reflective surface. I've also used white foam-core before as well. It's a little stiffer than poster board and might be a little easier to position.
About the cheapest alternative though is a white pillowcase. Just about everyone has a white pillowcase. It's one of those items that most people have around the house that a photographer can readily use as a cheap substitute. You can even bounce the light off of a white wall to help soften and diffuse the light.
I've already mentioned several methods of softening the light if you so desire. A softbox is, of course, a nice method, but not everyone has one. To be honest, I don't use a softbox; I just shoot through a white umbrella. Another method is to tape a piece of tracing or tissue paper over the flash to diffuse the light.
Conclusion
It's not really all that difficult to get decent studio-quality portraits. With a couple of proven lighting setups, you can achieve excellent results, time after time. And if you're using a digital camera, it's even easier, as you don't have to wait for film to be developed to see if your pictures came out.