Lighting

Lighting: Three Point Lighting

The three main points to lighting are the key light, fill light and background light.

Key Light

The key light is the light which has the most influence on these scenes and is the strongest fully illuminating the background of the scene and subjects in it. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.




Fill Light

This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To acheive this, you could move the light further away.




Back Light


The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.