Tip - How to achieve Remrandt Lighting in Portraiture

Rembrandt lighting is achieved using light coming from the side of the face and body. The angle is usually somewhere between 6o and 90 degrees.

The effect is one side of the face is fully lit and the shadow side partly lit, ideally with a small triangular patch of light under the eye on the shadow side.

If the photographer positions himself and camera so that the lit side is towards the camera it makes the face look broader and plumper. This is called Rembrandt Broad lighting.

With exactly the same lighting, if the camera is now re-positioned to point at the shadow side of the face, the emphasis is on the dark side with the small triangle of light. This produces a far more theatrical, dramatic lighting effect and makes the face and body look narrower and slimmer. This is referred to as Rembrandt Short lighting.

The Fremantle Portrait Prize offer more than AU$10,000 in prizes including a AU$5000 cash First Prize for the best portrait. Entries are $15 each and close on 8 July 2013. All proceeds to the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Foundation of Western Australia. Click HERE for details.

To learn more about Portrait Lighting and Techniques join Master Photographer Dale Neill in his next UWA Extension Portrait Workshop on 6/7/11 July 2013. Click HERE for details.