Practical Photography - UK (2020-04)

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 73

Three-point

lig ht setup

Howdo you getlong

ex posurelighttrails

wi thouteverything

gettingblurred?

Ni naBarr, Newcastle

Adamsays:Yourcamerawill

re cordall thelightthathitsthe

se nsorwhiletheshutteris open.

Any movementin yourscene

re lativeto thecamerawhilethe

sh utteris openwill be recorded.

Set a longexposureandmoveyour

ca meraup anddown.Theresulting

im agewill showverticalmotion

bl ur.Shakeit fromsideto sideand

yo u’llgethorizontalmotionblur.

The trickis to lockyourcameraoff

ona tripodso there’sno movement

betweencameraandthescene.

Al l thestaticelementswill appear

sh arp.Trythisin frontof a busy

ro adandtheonlythingmovingin

re lationto thecamerawill be the

ca rs,so theonlythingthatwill blur

in theimagewill be thecarsand

th eirheadlights.If yousetyour

ex posurefortheheadlightsthen

you’llseethelighttrailsrecorded

in yourimage.

Howdo slow

shutter speeds

give light trails?

Above Keeping the camera

steady is key for long exposures,

so a tripod is essential.

What is a

ke y light

and ho w

is it used?

I’ve been looking into portrait

photography and reading

about key lights in the lighting

setups. What are they and can you

explain some of the different types?

Ti m Smith, Kent

Kirk says: A key light isn’t so much atype

of lighting, but a label for the main light

source in your lighting setup. It’s a term

usedin thestudio,whenworkingwith

morethana singlelight.Thekeylightis

the onethat’sdoingall thelegworkin

il luminatingyoursubject.Itsroleis to

showtheformanddetailof yourmodel.

Othertypesareknownas fill lights

and rimlights.Thefill is lesspowerful

thanthekey,andis usedto softenthe

shadows.Usuallyit’spositionedon the

oppositesideof yourmodelto thekey

li ght,as seenin thediagrambelow.

The rimlight,sometimescalleda kicker,

usuallyshineseitherfroman oblique

angleor frombehind.It is usedto

highlighttheoutlineof yourmodeland

separatethemfromthebackground.

Itis oftenmorepowerfulthanthekey

li ghtandis onlyusedto givea verythin

highlightarea.All threecanbe combined

fo r a professionalportraitlook.

Thissetupis oftenreferredto as

three-pointlighting,forobviousreasons.

Sometimesa fourthlightis addedto the

setupto throwsomeilluminationonto

the background.

Pl acingthelights

Thesetermsaren’tlockedto thelocation

and placementof yourlightsources.You

can changethepositionanddirection

ofyourlightfora wholehostof different

li ghtingstylesandeffects.In anycase,

the morepowerfulfront-facinglightis

st illreferredto as thekeylight.If you

wereto increasethefill lightpowerto

morethanthatof thekeylight,andadjust

yourexposureaccordingly,thenit would

bethekeylight,andtheweakerlight

becomesthefill light.

Know Your Stuff

Above Here the key light shines in from the

right with a rim light highlighting the model’s

face and hair on the left.

FILLLIGHT

Fillsin shadows made

by the key light.

RIM LIGHT

Lightsfrombehindto

add ahighlightaround

the edgeof your

subject.

KEY LIGHT

The main light in your

setup, providing most

of the illumination for

your subject.

LSTOCKSTUDIO ANTHONY SULLIVAN