Portrait Lighting Patterns

There are five traditional lighting patterns for portraiture.

• Short Lighting.  Good for most subjects; a classic and flattering lighting pattern.
• Rembrandt Lighting. Classical and somewhat dramatic style.
• Broad Lighting.  Adds fullness to narrow or skinny faces.
• Butterfly Lighting. Old Hollywood glamour.  Sometimes referred to as Paramount Lighting (apparently in reference to the movie studio).
• Split Lighting.  Visually splits the subject in half with one side in almost complete shadow, the other in light.

Once you learn how to create these patterns with your key light, you’ll probably end up using them without thinking much about their labels or the specific techniques involved.  With experience, you’ll find that you setup and use your key light pretty much the same way from shoot to shoot.

It’s still a good idea to learn about these lighting patterns because whether you know you’re using them or not, they provide the basis for most portraiture lighting.  And, if you need to communicate what you’re trying to achieve to an assistant or another photographer, you’ll know the correct shorthand to get the message across.