That would be good for every photographer to know...
Light is an extremely important tool for a photographer. Not just because it would be rather hard to portray someone or something in total darkness, but rather, because different light settings and brightness evoke different emotions.
Especially in people photography the photographer has to not only consider the light most flattering to the person in front of him or her, but also the purpose of the shoot overall. The most flattering light might be a rembrandt lighting, but for a professional portrait of an elementary school teacher it most likely would be too dramatic.
Lets have a look at the most common main lighting set-ups and their mood.
The broad lighting
Makes the models face look broader and isn't wise to use on someone who has a rounder face. It is created when the part of the face turned toward the camera is illuminated, while the part that is turned away lies in the shadow.
The short lighting
This light is loved by women in particular as it's most flattering. It is also rather easy to create and thus great for beginners. It is created when the part of the face that is turned away from the camera is lit, while the part angled toward the camera lies more in the shadow.
The next lighting technique is quite similar to the short light, but the difference lies in the fact, that it is not defined by which side faces the camera or if you even look strait into it. It is defined by the loop that is created, which gives it its name:
The loop lighting
This light is also widely used to give a face depth and plasticity. It is defined by it creating a small shadow on the cheek of the models nose. the importance is, that the shadow isn't morphing together with the cheeks shadow (which would be creating a rembrandt light).
The Rembrandt lighting
This particular lighting set-up makes a face look more refined and gets its name from the painter Rembrandt, who frequently used it in his portraits. Its most noticable feature is the triangle that is being formed just below the eye on the cheek. Portraits using this lighting are usually shot in a 45° angle to the camera with the light being posititoned in a 90 ° angle.
The split lighting
This light is often used when one wants to create a moody portrait. That is why a lot of artists use this light for their portraits for its artsy nature. As the name says, it divides the face into two halves, the light and the dark side, right in the middle of the face.
The butterfly lighting
This light is named after the butterfly shadow i creates under the nose and has a good twin and a bad twin.
The good twin necessitates the light source being places above and in the third nearest the camera in the space inbetween the model and the photographer. The results are rather glamorous and often used in fashion magazines. The bad twin results (or ghoul light for some) in the images looking gloomy and scary and very dramatic the nearer the light sources gets to the model and thus creating deeper shadows under their eyes, nose and chin.
The silhouette lighting (or back lighting for some)
This light is more artistic in nature and mostly used for dramatic effect. It is created when an object or model is placed in front of a bright light source and doesn't get illuminated themselves.
There are of course other lighting set-ups to explore which are often used to give a portrait the edge it was missing such as, hair light, edge lighting, flat light and rim lighting. These will be explored in another article.