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DIY: Lighting for Portrait Photography

Lighting can be the key to good photography, changing the appearance of a subject by adjusting the way that shadows fall across your subject's features. These changes can be subtle or extreme, with lighting helping not only to show your subject clearly, but also to set the emotional impact of your final photo. A wide array of lighting options are available, from tungsten to fluorescent, each changing the overall look of your portrait subject. But regardless of the particular lighting type used, a basic three-light setup, with adjustments, will give you the portrait lighting you need.

Things You'll Need

Background sheet
Three light tripods
Boom kit
Three lights
4-by-4-foot white cardboard sheet

Instructions

- 1
  Position the person that you're taking a picture of about 3 to 5 feet in front of a background sheet such as a neutrally colored wall or large stationary fabric sheet. Place a backlight attached to a boom kit, a pole attached to a tripod that extends the light overhead, between the subject and the background to avoid harsh shadows on the back of the head and to make the hair stand out from the background.
- 2
  Place a reflective surface to the left of the subject, also about 3 to 5 feet away. A white wall works well for the reflective surface, or even a large piece of white cardboard held by a helper or tacked to a wall will do.
- 3
  Position the main light to the subject's right, about 3 feet away. The main light should highlight the facial features so that you can clearly see them. Set the main light on a tripod, at an angle towards your subject's face, lighting their features from about 45 degrees. Set the height of the light so that it falls down onto the subject at a 45 degree angle as well to emphasize the eye, nose and mouth of your subject.
- 4
  Place a fill light on a tripod directly in front of the subject about 8 feet. This should be a general soft light that helps push the shadows away from the left side of the subject's face caused by the main light.
- 5
  Substitute bright light from a window for any of the light sources as long as the window is in the right position.
- 6
  Adjust the distance of the lights to achieve the effect you want. The further away you move the lights the softer the lighting effect on your subject.

Photography