How to light certain faces?

[Blade Borge]

Hello, first time poster, I'd be interested to know how you light certain faces such as,

Bald head, double chin, wide face, the overweight, the underweight, broad forehead, long necks, short necks, large ears, pug noses, thin face, wide mouth, etc...

 

[Alfred D.]

Hello, first time poster, I'd be interested to know how you light certain faces such as,

Bald head, double chin, wide face, the overweight, the underweight, broad forehead, long necks, short necks, large ears, pug noses, thin face, wide mouth, etc...

We don't light 'm, we Photoshop 'm.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I've found that often it is more about camera angle and lens perspective then lighting.

For example, portrait lighting generally looks best if it's from above the subject, split lighting can be iffy, especially for hard light, becuase of nose shadows, i've found that if the nose shadow follows the smile lines, it's more flattering then if it's warping over the cheek from the light being eye level with the subject.

Lens perspective and your angle to the subject is really important for facial features. For example, for people with large noses, longer lenses make the subject more flattering because it compresses the space.

Lets say Joe Six-Pak has a real honker of a nose, an eye-level headshot of him with a 50mm lens is going to look potentially alot worse then the same shot at 200mm.

 

[Garbz]

Yep but if you open any book about portraiture it will tell you lighting makes as much difference as lens perspective.

A larger subject will benefit from the slimming effects of rim lighting with a small fill, but then this also causes blemishes in the skin to be brought out more.

Want to reduce blemishes a big fat soft light source does just that but at the expense of making the subject look a bit fatter. Playing with various combinations of 3/4 front on and side lighting can have quite an effect on the perception of the subject.

 

[JerryPH]

Bald head - Even diffused lighting

Double chin - Ask them to lift chin up and/or turn head to angles.

Wide face - 3/4 view shots not straight on

Overweight - angles and them being higher than I

The underweight - don't do anything much special, maybe play with angles

Broad forehead - see wide face

Long necks - see underweight

Short necks - see underweight

well... you see the trend, right? It is a simple fact that you de-emphasize the trait that is negative and emphasize the traits that are positive. The suggestion that you purchase a book on portraiture is a good one. The info that you are asking for can easily fill a book!

 

[Blade Borge]

The info that you are asking for can easily fill a book!

Any recommendations on such a book? And thanks everyone for your input.

 

[JerryPH]

Any recommendations on such a book? And thanks everyone for your input.

Wow, not sure you will find it all in one place/book, but a good place to start would be "Master's Guide to Portrait Photography". Google or search for it on Amazon.com.

 

[John David]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']JerryPH has the right idea. I agree with what he said. I would also look into different lighting styles...broad, narrow, split, rembrandt, butterfly. They all can be used to accentuate your subject flattering features and minimize their less attractive ones.
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