Five rules of classic portrait lighting: Rembrandt light, butterfly light, ring light, side light and split light

1. The only anchor point for portrait lighting: subnasal projection and bone structure

Portrait lighting is by no means aimless. The core task of lighting is to use the boundaries between light and shadow to carve out the three-dimensional facial features of the subject in a flat two-dimensional photo:

1. Rembrandt Lighting/classic oil painting light:

• Geometric light position: The main light is located diagonally in front of the model at a 45-degree angle, with a height above the line of sight and an 45-degree downward angle.
• Visual characteristics: An inverted triangle highlight spot is formed on the model's cheek on the side away from the main light (the backlit side), and the triangle light must be closed with the shadow under the nose, and there must be bright eye light inside the eyes. It has a very classical, deep and dramatic oil painting texture, especially suitable for male portraits and emotional portraits.

2. Butterfly Light (Paramount/Butterfly Lighting/Paramount Hollywood Light):

• Geometric light position: The main light is directly in front of the central axis of the model's face, hung high, and swooping downward at 45-60 degrees.
• Visual Characteristics: Casts an elegant small butterfly-shaped symmetrical shadow just below the nose. The natural darkening below the cheekbones produces a face-slimming effect, and the face is extremely symmetrical and three-dimensional. It is the standard lighting for actresses in the golden age of Hollywood and modern beauty commercial blockbusters.

3. Ring Lighting:

• Geometric light position: Based on the butterfly light, move the main light slightly to the side about 30 degrees.
• Visual Features: The shadow under the nose extends sideways into a small circle, but the shadow is never connected to the cheek shadow. This is the most widely applicable, least picky, and most friendly lighting method for daily business portraits.

4. Split Lighting:

• Geometric light position: The main light is placed strictly on the side of the model at a 90 degree angle, on the same horizontal line as the face.
• Visual Features: The face is split in half by light and shadow strictly from the center of the bridge of the nose, with one side fully lit and the other side completely sunken into darkness. It has a strong sense of suspense, power, and inner conflict.

2. Lighting Ratio control: the balance of main light and fill light

• Key Light: determines the overall shadow shape and main exposure;
• Fill Light/Reflector: Placed on the opposite side of the main light, it is responsible for injecting diffuse light into the shadows and controlling the darkness of the shadows.
• 1:2 light ratio (1 EV difference): The shadows are extremely soft and bright, suitable for fresh and sweet business documents and young female portraits;
• 1:4 light ratio (difference of 2 EV stops): moderate contrast and strong three-dimensional effect, which is the gold standard for fashion portraits;
• High light ratio of 1:8 or above: dramatic and hard-core sculpture.

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