Christian Berges: Portrait Lighting Basics, Part 3: The Rim Light

The rim light – also called back light or highlight – completes the classic three-point lighting scheme. From the camera’s point of view, the rim light comes from the opposite direction. Thus, instead of illuminating the subject, it causes reflections on it’s silhouette.

Function

While the key light determines the lighting direction and the fill light controls the contrasts within your picture, there may be two motivations for setting up a rim light: It can have aesthetical or even ramaturgical function.

a) Aesthetical Function

In aesthetical regard, the rim light helps to distinguish your subject from the background by providing it’s silhouette with a gleaming edge.

Thus, the rim light creates depth and three-dimensionality by separating different image layers. Especially a rather flat and ‘boring’ portrait light can benefit from the contrast provided by the brilliant outline of a rim light.

b) Dramatization

Besides its aesthetical function, the rim light can be motivated dramaturgically. It adds to the protagonist’s characterization – making her or him appear artificial, precious, beautiful, idealized, noble or almost arrogant… depending on the context and the light’s intensity. A very strong rim light evokes a ‘gloriole’ effect – the protagonist can gain an enraptured, other-worldly, diva-like, mysterious or even holy expression.

Setup

The rim light is a back light, it shines from behind the protagonist’s back and is pointed towards the camera. Usually, there is a 90 degree range in which the rim light can be placed. The exact position depends on what part of the silhouette the ‘gleaming edge’ is intended to appear on.

a) on top of the hair

If you want the rim light just on top of the hair and on the shoulders, the lamp should be positioned opposite to the camera, on the extended axis between camera and protagonist.

Unless you are in a studio and can hang the lamp on a rig under the ceiling, you’ll face a serious problem: The lighting stand is standing right in the middle of your picture, more or less concealed behind your protagonist, but appearing above his head. To solve this problem, you can try to hide the lighting stand in or behind the backdrop… maybe place a plant or a prop in front of it. If that’s not possible, there’s some grip equipment which may help you out. You can use a lighting boom like the one below to move the stand sideways out of the picture.

Or you can use a clamp to fix the lamp on a suitable part of the backdrop, for example a (solid!!!) curtain pole:

Another great solution is this versatile autopole: Spread between two walls, a lamp can be fixed on it with a clamp like the one above.

What is the adequate height for your rim light? The minimum level is defined by the upper edge of your frame – of course, you have to keep the lamp out of your picture. The maximum level is reached when the protagonist’s head throws an ugly shadow on his chest, looking like a baby’s bib – now the rim light is shining too steep. In general, the higher the angle, the broader the gleaming outline on top of the silhouette gets. And the lower the angle, the more difficult it gets to avoid lens flares… we will treat this problem later.

b) on the cheek

If the rim light is intended to appear not only on the hair and on the shoulders, but also on one edge of the face, you’ll have to move your lamp approximately 45 degrees sideways. As long as there’s no long hair in the way, the cheek should gain the ‘gleaming edge’. But stop moving the rim light laterally before an ugly stain of light appears on the ala of the nose. Also watch out for disturbing shadows cast by the ear.

This position of the rim light offers a great advantage: If your field size is close enough, the lighting stand is out of your framing and you won’t have any trouble hiding it. To make the light as smooth as possible, you can place any kind of diffuser in front of the lamp. And to get an even, all-over rim light on the cheek, the lamp shouldn’t shine from a high angle.

The lower you place the rim light, the more the ‘gleaming outline’ is shifted from the top of the hair to the cheek. That makes this position ideal for people with a bald head, on which otherwise the light would be reflected disproportionately.

Decide on which side of the face you prefer to have your rim light – opposite to your key light’s direction? Or on the same side? What about two rim lights for both cheeks?

It’s up to you and your visual conception.

Brightness Level

The brightness level of your rim light depends – first of all – on your aesthetical intentions. Do you want a natural look with just a subtle rim light? Or do you prefer a dramatic silhouette, perhaps even a gloriole?

Don’t be afraid to go over the top: Since the rim light is usually nothing more than a thin, gleaming outline, covering just a tiny area of your picture, you shouldn’t worry if it’s technically overexposed – as long as you like the result.

Of course, the brightness level also depends on the color of the protagonist’s hair: Dark hair requires a more powerful rim light than blond hair.

Bald heads are difficult because the rim light is reflected on the plain skin. Try to use a low, sideways angle (as explained above) or reduce the rim light considerably.

Lens Flares

Working with back lights, you’ll probably discover a general problem: lens flares. Since it’s in the nature of the rim light to point more or less towards the camera, the beams may hit the lens and leave ugly stains in the picture.

To avoid this, it can help to raise the angle of the rim light, or to increase the distance between camera and subject. However, both solutions affect the visual composition. If you don’t want this, you can put a matte box with a French flag on your lens.

Move the flag as far as possible towards the upper edge of the frame while keeping it just outside the picture.

Another possibility is to use light controllers like floppies and cutters:

You should place the cutter between lamp and camera. It’s better to put it closer to the camera than to the light source, because here you get a well-defined shadow cast by the cutter. Adjust its position until this shadow shields the lens from the rim light.

Written by Christian Berges
www.bergesmedia.de