There are countless ways to light a photograph.
A good way to learn new types of lighting is to look through fashion magazines. Tear out pictures with interesting lighting and collect them in a binder. Then try to reproduce the lighting of each one in your own studio. Most pictures involve a setup of one to five lights. Each setup can create several different types of lighting.
One Light
A one-light setup can create front, side, back, bottom, top, or high side lighting. To create front lighting, place the light source beside the camera and point it toward the subject. Side lighting means the light is pointing to one side of the subject and at a right angle to the camera. For backlighting, the light is behind the subject, creating a silhouette with a halo. To create bottom lighting, shine the light very low in front of the subject and aim it up toward her.
Top lighting places the light placed very high, aiming down. For high side lighting, place the light at a 45 degree angle to the subject and shine it down at a 45-degree angle.
Two Lights
A twolight setup uses a main light and a fill light. The main light will be one of the types mentioned in Section 1. The fill light softens shadows created by the main light. The fill light is positioned higher than the main light and should be twice as intense. Also, the fill light should be diffused and placed farther from the subject than the main light is.
Three Lights
A three-light setup can create flat lighting with little or no shadow. To do this the main light source should be a front light right next to the camera. The fill light should be on the same side of the camera as the main light but higher, at a 45-degree angle to the subject, and 6 feet back from the camera. The third light should be a side light on the opposite side of the subject from the other two lights. The third light could also be used as a top light or a background light, either of which can be used to separate a subject from the background if flat lighting is not the goal.
Four Lights
A four-light setup usually places the main light as a high side light. The fill light in this setup might be lower than the main light, and it is angled to soften the shadows created by the high side light. The third light is a top light that is high above and slightly behind the subject, shining down on the hair. The fourth light is placed behind the subject to illuminate the background.
Five or Six Lights
A five-light setup has a main light, fill light, and side light in the formation described in the Three Lights section. The fourth light is a top light shining on the hair. The fifth light is a background light.
A sixth light could be added to backlight the subject, but that might put the subject so far away from the background that the edges of the background would be visible in the picture. This is the most complete lighting setup. The intensity and position of each light can adjusted to create a variety of moods.
Diffused Light
There many ways to diffuse a light. Some photo light companies sell diffuser attachments for their lights. Different types of paper, cloth or acetate can be clipped to lights to diffuse them. Paper, cloth and acetate come in many colors and textures that can alter how a light looks on a subject. However, when clipping things onto lights, be careful that they won't catch on fire.
