Focus On Lighting Photos Focus on the Fundamentals.pdf

Broad lighting
Broad lighting is pretty much the
opposite of short lighting. It is
when the light side of the face is
closest to the camera. This tends
to leave the face fairly flat with
little bone definition. It is good
for thin, angular faces. Generally
it is avoided for round faces,
as it makes the face look even
broader. However, this approach
is worth knowing and practicing
because there are always
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<strong>Focus</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Lighting</strong> <strong>Photos</strong>
going to be times when we either
just need a different look or a
face isn’t working well with short
lighting.
Sometimes these names can
be confusing, but it helps to
think that broad lighting uses a
“broad” swath of light to cross
the face. Short lighting, on
the other hand, makes use of
shadow and has just a little or
“short” amount of light hitting
the face.
In the photo below, our main
light, the off-camera flash, was
placed on the opposite side,
while the sitter is still in the same
basic pose. As a result, the part
of the face closest to the camera
is now the more brightly lit. Our
sitter has great cheekbones, and
we still get a hint of them even
with this lighting, but the face
appears broader with this type of
lighting.