Achievable with one light, butterfly
lighting is simple yet flattering
Butterfly lighting
Sometimes called glamour lighting, this setup
requires minimal kit and is easy to achieve. It’s
a great place to start wherever you’re working
because it’s so simple to do.
The light is placed directly in front of the
subject, typically 30 centimetres or so away,
above their head and angled down towards
their face at roughly 45 degrees. You’ll know
if you’ve got this right as you’ll see the small
butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose – the
signature tell of this lighting setup.
Although this is achieved with one light, a
reflector can be added under the key light,
which can be used as a fill to reflect some light
back into the shadow that is created under
the chin, but this depends on how soft or hard
you want the effect to be. The reflector should
be placed just out of frame. If you get this
light balance perfectly placed, you can achievereflections in the pupils from both the key and
fill lights.
Butterfly lighting is often used in softer
setups because it’s flattering, creating
shadows to the cheekbones and eliminating
more severe nose shadows – although to
prevent this the subject will have to mainly
face towards the camera, with minimal
movement or turn of the head. Of course, you
can add background or rim lighting in addition
to the key light.
For your choice of modifier, a beauty dish,
with or without sock or honeycomb, is a good
choice because it’s really compact and can
be placed above the subject and stay out of
frame. It creates a soft and flattering light
without the hot spot. But if you don’t have a
beauty dish, a small octabox or softbox will
work just as well.Achievable with one light, butterfly
lighting is simple yet flattering
Butterfly lighting
Sometimes called glamour lighting, this setup
requires minimal kit and is easy to achieve. It’s
a great place to start wherever you’re working
because it’s so simple to do.
The light is placed directly in front of the
subject, typically 30 centimetres or so away,
above their head and angled down towards
their face at roughly 45 degrees. You’ll know
if you’ve got this right as you’ll see the small
butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose – the
signature tell of this lighting setup.
Although this is achieved with one light, a
reflector can be added under the key light,
which can be used as a fill to reflect some light
back into the shadow that is created under
the chin, but this depends on how soft or hard
you want the effect to be. The reflector should
be placed just out of frame. If you get this
light balance perfectly placed, you can achievereflections in the pupils from both the key and
fill lights.
Butterfly lighting is often used in softer
setups because it’s flattering, creating
shadows to the cheekbones and eliminating
more severe nose shadows – although to
prevent this the subject will have to mainly
face towards the camera, with minimal
movement or turn of the head. Of course, you
can add background or rim lighting in addition
to the key light.
For your choice of modifier, a beauty dish,
with or without sock or honeycomb, is a good
choice because it’s really compact and can
be placed above the subject and stay out of
frame. It creates a soft and flattering light
without the hot spot. But if you don’t have a
beauty dish, a small octabox or softbox will
work just as well.