Perfect Portraits

James Paterson gets to grips with the key and fill technique for beautifully lit portraits

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Key and fill is one of the most fundamental concepts in lighting. It’s a reliable technique not just for portraits, but for lots of different subjects.

In essence a key and fill are two light sources – one slightly stronger than the other. The key light is the main light used to illuminate our subject, while the fill light provides a lift to the shadows. It’s such an effective technique for lighting because it gives depth and form to our subject. It provides a play of light and shade across them and it’s this that creates a sense of depth and shape to the face of our model.

What’s more, by tweaking the ratio of our two light sources we can control the contrast over our subject. With a low-strength fill light the contrast will be strong, and with a higher fill light the contrast will be less severe.

Our two light sources for key and fill could be anything we like: studio flash, Speedlites, LEDs, sunlight, reflectors… even your phone torch. Initially, here, we’ve used two LEDs, and over the page we also explore using flash.

You can also get technical with it and measure the differences using a light meter. This level of precision is great practice, but it’s not essential. You can also take a few test shots and eyeball it, judging the strength of the fill.

Over the next few pages we’ll look at how this simple setup can lead to great portraits in the studio, and all kinds of other scenarios.…

THE SETUP / Key and fill lighting

1 Key light