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Basic Studio Lighting
Interested in portrait photography? Well if you can afford three umbrella lights I can tell you how to set up a basic studio lighting configuration. It won’t guarantee perfect photos but it will get you started. First you need a neutral background, this doesn’t mean a gray back drop necessarily but that is the standard. Most everyone looks fine against gray. Keep in mind you don’t need to buy expensive paper roll back drops. A clothes line and some good quality sheets do the job too.
Refer to this diagram as I go through the positions of each light and why you need it there.

Backdrop can be a gray, brown, or blue sheet.

Subject Here

The rectangle is your back drop. The circle is your portrait subject. Make sure there is at least one foot or even two feet between the subject and the back drop. We’re going to create some depth to this simple set up.

The arrow pointing to the back drop is light number 1. This light needs to be pointed up at the back drop with the circle of light right behind the subject's head. This will create a nice halo effect that will make sure your subject doesn’t melt into the background, and it will make sure that there is some depth to the image.
The larger arrow on the right is light number two. This light needs to be back almost next to you and aim the light up at the ceiling if possible. This will bounce a nice soft light upon your subject. Keep this light soft. Everyone looks good in soft light.

The smaller arrow that is pointing to your subject and closest to them is light number 3. Ideally this light should be smaller than the other two but it doesn’t have to be. This light needs to be aimed at your subjects face, centered on their eye level, so that you get that nice sparkle in their eyes. Be careful that the light isn’t too harsh, back it up if you need to.

You can also get away with only light number 1 and 3. If you have a flash on your camera you can aim it at the ceiling, bouncing the light, and get the same effect as placing a light at position 2.
This is your basic lighting set up for portrait work. Keep in mind that this set up assumes that your subject is facing you or at a three quarter position to your camera.

This should get you started on a basic lighting set up. Remember you can experiment but always start with the good old basics and learn why they work so well before you start experimenting with different lighting set ups.

Copyright 2004 Kelly Paal
Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. She started her own business Kelly Paal Photography. She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. Please visit www.kellypaalphotography.com for more FREE how to articles.