Portraiture - Lighting techniques

When you are taking portraits in the studio, you can change the way your photo is lighting. You can use either low key or high key light, with each creating different tones and a different mood in your piece. Here are some examples of Low key and high key lighting, respectively.

Low key lighting can create a sense of strength, due to lots of strong dark tones being presented. These tones can suggest masculinity and also suggest mystery, as a lot of the subject is obscured in darkness. If you use low key lighting in your photo, the photo will create an overall dark mood. 

However, High key lighting can create a sense of peace, due to emphasis of light tones. It can sometimes have connotations of femininity, as shown in the image above. High key lighting creates a sense of happiness, as he image is light in colour, and has few dark tones.

There are several pieces of equipment you can use to change the way the light works. 

One of these is a Snoot. 

A snoot is put on the end of a spotlight, and it makes the lighting beam smaller, so that you can light up a smaller area with your spotlight. This can be used for selective, low key lighting, e.g. lighting up one side of somebody's face. You can also use a honeycomb grid with a snoot.