Hollywood Photo Lighting Scheme

This tutorial comes in black and white. It was done on purpose, because in black and white one can see more clearly the effect of using a particular lighting scheme.

This lighting reminds those old Hollywood movies from 40s and 50s of the last century.

No softboxes or flashes are used in this scheme - just plain lights.

First of all we have two lights above the model to light her hair. Then there is a key light beaming from a side slightly above and a fill light at a bit below her face level. We also light the background.

The fill light should not be placed high as in that case there will be no spacle in her eyes.

You can see in this video that by switching various lights on and off what effect it makes on the model. For instance one can do without the fill light but in that case the shadows on the model's face will be harsh. To soften these shadows we have to use a fill light. However, if you need a more dramatic effect (a mean look of her face), then you can turn the fill light off.