Week 2 - Lighting Basics for Portraits
Creating professional-looking portraits using constant and strobe lighting.
This lesson teaches you how to shape light, control mood, and create flattering studio portraits with confidence.
What You’ll Learn This Week
Lesson 2 – Lighting Basics for Portraits (Photo + Video)
Lighting is one of the most important skills in photography and videography. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to shape, control, and direct light using both constant lighting and strobe lighting in the studio. These fundamentals will give you the ability to create depth, mood, and professional-quality portraits in any setting.
By the end of this lesson, you will understand:
The three main properties of light: direction, quality, and intensity
The difference between front light, side light, and backlight
The role of rim light and hair light in portraits
How soft light and hard light affect mood and skin texture
How light distance and power affect brightness
The basic difference between constant lights and strobes
How camera settings interact with your lighting setup
Week 2 Downloads
These are the digital versions of the handouts you’ll receive in class. Download and save these to your computer for easy reference.
If you misplace your printed handout, this is your backup copy.
🎥 Lesson 2 Video
This is your Lesson 2 video walkthrough. Watch this before class to prepare, or revisit it afterward to reinforce what we covered in the studio.
Take notes as you watch. Don’t worry about mastering everything at once - we’ll build this skill together through hands-on practice.
Week 2 Assignment
This assignment is designed to help you apply what you learned about lighting and begin developing consistency in your portrait setups.
Your goal this week is to:
Practice positioning your main light
Experiment with soft vs hard light
Try front light and side light setups
Begin paying attention to how shadows shape the face
When your assignment file is added here, you’ll also find:
Full instructions
What to submit
How to export your files (if needed)
✅ Download the assignment below once it’s available.
Next Lesson
When you're ready, continue on to the next lesson.