Portrait Photography:  The Main Light

Do you know who opened one of the first portrait photography studios in America?  It was Samual F.B. Morse, who invented the telegraph.  Morse was not only an inventor but also a celebrated portrait painter.  He was a pioneering photographer in the mid 1800’s and employed portrait photography to create portrait studies for his paintings.

In those days many portrait photography studios were located on top of buildings to make use of the best available light.  A far cry from the high tech electronic flash units of today!  Today we have all kinds of choices of artificial light for specific types and techniques of photography.  We don’t have to rely on natural light for our main light source.  So, where do we place the main light for best results?

Portrait Photography:  Incident Metering

“The main light is the source of illumination for a picture. It’s the one that’s measured for exposure with an incident meter. Using one is explained in the Photofocus post Exposure Tactics: Incident Metering. It sets the mood for the photograph. It’s the one that all the other lights serve. It also provides the main diffused highlight in a portrait.”  Read more …

Portrait Photography |Placing the Main Light | Photofocus

Source:  Photofocus