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Las Vegas Portrait Photographer – Cross Lighting:  A Subject As A Portrait Photographer

To the Las Vegas Portrait photographer, creating a bright and impressive image is very important to their craft. They know the importance of using the appropriate lighting to make the image stand out from other photos.

Making use of flat lighting on a great subject can make the subject look boring while giving a dull subject the appropriate amount of light can bring the subject to life and make it look spectacular. These are the basic knowledge a Las Vegas portrait photographer must possess.

As a Las Vegas portrait photographer, finding the right amount of light for a photo-shoot is the challenge faced in this craft. Even though it seems like there are more options for the source of lighting, there are specific lighting techniques that would light up your photograph. As a Las Vegas Portrait Photographer, I’ve learned a lot of techniques.  

Let’s look at the lighting technique that serves all purposes as a portrait photographer.

Cross Lighting

Just as the name implies, Cross-lighting is the use of two or more light sources to brighten up the subject from opposite directions. This gives the image one of the best effects ever and sets it apart from other photo sessions.

The technique is an all-around technique because as a Las Vegas Portrait  Photographer, I change the angles of my lighting to create limitless options when creating a lighting effect when taking the photos.

Cross lighting involves the use of two or more light sources mostly a large softbox, a small hard-edged light, reflectors and sometimes the sun. Any of these can serve as the primary light source and the accent light source.

Now, here is another angle to this lighting technique, because it’s called cross lighting does not necessarily mean one must use two sources of light. When Photographers shoot in broad daylight, the sun acts as the second source of illumination, ask any Las Vegas Photographer.

Sometimes there are no real lights, the use of a reflector and the reflection of the sun are the sources of lighting. When using a reflector and the sun, the reflector is positioned to reflect the sun rays on the dark areas of the subject. So the reflector is the secondary source while the sun acts as the primary source of lighting.

There are times when a photographer uses a piece of off-camera lighting equipment to light up certain features of the subject while the sun provides the main source of lighting on the subject.  These times the exposure of the daylight is essential. The lighting equipment lights up the shadowy area in front of the subject.

There are also times when to light up the subject only one source of lighting and a reflector make up the cross lighting system. Wherever the location of the image is, the reflector is placed on the opposite side of the flash. So while the flash lights up one aspect, the reflector illuminates the other part of the subject.

The positioning of the reflector can influence the contrast and illumination of your photograph says a Las Vegas Photographer.  He said the reflector could be moved closer or further away to change the image contrast. The full light effect can be reduced by shifting the position of the subject if using a white background.  These are just a part of the techniques of the cross lighting for Las Vegas portrait photography.

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