Three Point Lighting

Three-point lighting is basically a method or a type of lighting setup where you have three distinct light source positions to illuminate a subject in a scene.

It is not a formula or a set standard, but rather a guide as to how and where to place your light sources so as to light your subject and scene.

The placement of your lights in this lighting setup helps create different moods for your image.

We’ll get into this in more detail as we describe the different lights in the setup. You have three distinct lights or light positions;

1. The Key Light

2. The Fill Light

3. The Backlight

The Key Light

This is your main source of light, and is the brightest light in your scene.

The key light is what will give you your scene and subject it’s overall exposure.

Usually, it’s placed in front of the subject, and is often off to one side to create some dimension and depth.

The shadows created by setting it off-center to your subject are what create the depth and dimension.

How you decide to place your Key light is very important because it sets the mood of your scene. The fill and the backlight just help you shape the scene better to bring out he mood. More on this in just a bit.

Depending on how far off center you place the key light, you could end up with anything from a high-key image to a low-key image.

What, you may ask, is a low-key and a high-key image?

Well, a high-key image is one where the shadows on the subjects face and in the scene in general are very light and soft, almost nonexistent.

The overall lighting is generally very even and low contrast. This is achieved by having your key and fill light at almost the same brightness.

This cancels out almost all shadows on your subject.

On the other hand, a low-key image is the exact opposite. The image has high contrast, deep shadows and is often very moody.

Now that we’ve covered what the key light is and the role it plays, let’s move on to the fill light and the backlight.

The Fill Light

This is your second source of light.

It’s usually much dimmer than the key light, and is used to fill in any shadows created by the key light.

The reason you may want to use a fill light is to retain some detail in the shadow areas and to reduce the overall contrast of the scene.

The fill light also comes in handy to create a catch-light in the subject’s eye, which helps to give the character a more “alive” look.

This light is doesn’t always have to be an actual light. It could be a reflector, a bounce card, a wall, or anything that will bounce back some light onto the subject to fill in the shadows.

Your fill light works together with your key light to determine the mood of the image you’re creating.

How bright your fill light is can also depend on the character you’re lighting; are they male or female? Are they a sinister character or a bright and chirpy character?

For example, female characters are often lit with a brighter fill to create more softness on their faces, even if the scene may be dark and moody.

The Backlight

This is your third and final source of light in a three-point lighting setup.

It’s usually placed behind the subject, sometimes off to one side, directly behind or overhead but still behind the subject.

The backlight is used to create separation between the subject and the background so that they don’t disappear into it.

It achieves this by creating a “highlight” around the outline of the subject.

By the way, a backlight is different from a background light, which normally lights the background of the scene, and not the character.