Rembrandt Lighting Style: How to Use Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting is a common lighting technique that involves bathing one side of a person’s face in light and the other in shadow. This technique relies on a single light source to create a dark, dramatic effect that still accentuates the subject’s facial features. Both portrait photographers and cinematographers commonly use this unique lighting technique.

As a master of chiaroscuro—which involves balancing one light source with the shadows it creates—the famous seventeenth-century Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is the namesake of this popular lighting technique. A signature characteristic of Rembrandt lighting involves casting a small upside-down triangle of light on the shadowed side of the subject’s face right below their eye. Viewers can find this same effect in Rembrandt’s paintings and self-portraits.

Rembrandt lighting is great for beginner photographers on a budget who are learning how to light a set properly. Many portraiture photographers use Rembrandt lighting because it produces a captivating and mysterious effect without many expensive studio lights.

All you need for a basic configuration is one primary light source and possibly a reflector. In place of a reflector, you can add a fill light for a softer effect revealing subtle details on the dark side of the subject’s face.

To create a basic Rembrandt lighting setup and shoot a compelling portrait, follow these steps:

1. 1. Choose your shooting location. Rembrandt lighting setups work best in a controlled environment like an indoor photography studio. Avoid shooting outside with natural light for this technique because it will not be as easy to control. Choose a dark background, and instruct your subject to wear a dark shirt that blends in with it so that their face will stand out.
2. 2. Choose your main light source. For your main light source, use a studio or flash lamp to create an extra bright light, ensuring lots of contrast with dark shadows and prominent light. If you prefer softer light with more visible detail on the shadowed side of the face, incorporate a softbox, umbrella modifier, or even a little natural light spilling in from the window.
   
3. 3. Position your key light. Place your subject against your background, and stage your key light about five feet away from them, positioned at a forty-five-degree angle between their shoulder and nose. Using a light stand or clamp, raise the light two feet above the subject’s eye level and angle it down to create the signature light diamond on the shadowed half of the subject’s face.
4. 4. Choose either broad or short lighting. When angling your key light down towards your subject, you can try out broad or short types of lighting. In a broad lighting setup, the main light illuminates the part of the subject’s face closest to the camera and casts the other in shadow. Short lighting is the opposite of broad lighting, with the far half of the subject’s face illuminated and the other in shadow. Broad lighting exposes the high points of the face with fewer shadows. The increase in contrast and shadows with short lighting can highlight facial lines, such as wrinkles or scars.
5. 5. Play with the light triangle’s position. The signature Rembrandt triangle of light should be small and subtle on your subject’s face, falling just next to their nose, extending no wider than the eye. Try this traditional setup first, but feel free to make adjustments to the Rembrandt triangle’s position to fit the desired mood.
6. 6. Consider using a reflector as a fill light. While a second light isn’t necessary to achieve Rembrandt lighting, a reflector helps soften the effect, similar to a fill light—revealing detail on your subject’s shadow side. Place the reflector on the symmetrically opposite side of your subject’s face as the key light, angled in at forty-five degrees, about four feet away from the model’s face.
7. 7. Adust your flash. Take a few sample shots of your subject and modify your camera’s flash power. The intensity of your flash shouldn’t interfere with your asymmetrical lighting setup, or light the shadowed side of your subject’s face too much. If it does, consider turning the camera’s flash off.

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