Update on the Lighting Styles

My last post had a couple of small errors so the images I got were not up to what I wanted to display so...

First boo boo.  The earlier post had the two lights too close together.  I really needed to put them at least 30 degrees to the right and left

This is how we normally would copy artwork and I never use this lighting system for portraits.  I understand that some people consider this "glamour" lighting so if that's their opinion, by all means.  I don't care for it for this reason.

The light is flat, the two catchlights in the eyes are distracting and it may be hard to see but there are cross shadows coming off both sides of the nose.  For proper portrait lighting, there's usually only one shadow from the main light.  Can it be improved by lowering the power of one of the lights?  Maybe and the sample is below:

I saw a set of portraits recently where one looked better than the other.  I looked carefully and the one that looked better had only one light that fired.  The other light misfired but gave a better roundness and depth to the image.

Now there is a highlight side and a shadow side which is what we strive for in normal portrait lighting.  It still lacks something so if one adds a hair light, it adds even more depth.

 

IMHO, a better lighting system would be an over/under system with a hair light.  It creates a "butterfly" shadow which was used in the portraits in the early days of Hollywood.  The light under is added to soften the shadows on the face but retaining the "butterfly" shadow.

This light has more form and depth and can be improved (separating the head from the background) by adding a hair light.

 

What am I leaning towards?  Probably the beauty dish with a six light setup.  Main, Fill, Background, Hair Light, and two Kicker Lights.

This is the a basic three light setup.  Main, Fill (bounced against the white wall to create the base exposure) and a background light.  And a reflector under the face.

 It's ok but would look better with the addition of a hair light.  The hair light has a light amber gel inserted to add some warmness to the hair.

I'll probably consider using the kicker lights to add more depth to the portraits.  They come in from behind the subject and skim the body.

I have to emphasize that there is no "RIGHT" portrait lighting technique.  There are about as many different styles as there are photographers.  The "right" technique is the one that flatters and makes the subjects look their best..