VIDEONICS
V1 · IN 02:00:00:00 02 / 10

Lighting Light

Light is what the camera actually records. Direction, hardness, colour and the ratio of light to shadow set the mood of a shot more than any adjustment in post-production.

  • lighting techniques
  • key / fill / backlight
  • natural light
  • colour temperature
  • modifiers
  • practicals

What this section answers

  • How do I set up classic three-point lighting?
  • What do 3200 K and 5600 K mean?
  • How do I balance daylight and artificial light in one shot?

Quick reference

Quick reference: approximate colour temperatures of light sources
sourceapprox.character
candle flame≈ 1,900 Kvery warm, orange
halogen bulb (film ‘tungsten’)≈ 3,200 Kwarm; the standard for artificial light
daylight (‘daylight’ standard)≈ 5,600 Kneutral for daylight balance
overcast sky / shadeabove 6,500 Kcool, bluish

Values are approximate — the actual colour temperature of daylight changes with the time of day, the weather and location.

Terms

Key light
The main source, which sets the direction, hardness and character of the light on a character.
Fill light
A weaker source on the opposite side that softens the shadows cast by the key. The key-to-fill ratio sets the contrast of the face.
Backlight rim light
Light from behind the subject that outlines its edge and separates the character from the background.
Colour temperature
The colour cast of white light, in kelvin. Lower values (~3200 K) are warm, higher ones (~5600 K and above) cooler. It is compensated with the white balance setting.
Colour rendering indices CRI / TLCI / SSI
Metrics that express how faithfully a light source renders colours compared with a reference light. Important with LED sources.

In preparation

Topics we are working on. They are not published yet — we would rather have fewer pages, but verified ones.

  • Three-point lighting: key, fill, backlight
  • Hard and soft light: source size and distance
  • Colour temperature and white balance in practice
  • Modifiers: softboxes, diffusion, bounce, flags
  • Practical lights in shot
  • Colour rendering indices (CRI, TLCI, SSI) for LED fixtures