Rembrandt And His Works Comprising A Short

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Learning from the old masters

The Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn employed painting proficiencies proposing ambient light rendering shadows and highlights which developed the illusion of a three dimensional portrait. Filmmakers and photographers have picked up on this technique and employed it to portraiture and scene lighting.

A host of work to analyze

Examples of this may distinctly be seen in Rembrandt van Rijn’s work, which include his numerous self portraits, A Polish Nobleman, Atemisia, Portrait Of An Old Man In Red and a host of others.

Nothing without light

Once the new digital photographer has ultimately got to grips with the plethora of instrumentation that add to the photographic experience, he or she may delve into the exiting world of portraiture and lighting. Photography does not subsist without lighting. Rembrandt lighting has become infused as a lighting technique alongside wide portrait lighting, short portrait lighting, split portrait lighting and butterfly portrait lighting.

Similar Technique

Rembrandt lighting is similar to short or wide lighting where the key light is placed on the narrow or wide side of the face leaving one division of the face in shadow. Imagine your subject facing directly towards the camera with the key light placed right of the camera, more to the side of the subject and above the head. The subject turns towards the light creating a shadow on the other side of the face. The shadow may be placed on the opposite side by the subject turning away from the key light. This simple technique is sufficient to construct some interest in the portrait and is in general a feed starting point.

The necessary difference

The divergence among these lighting proficiencies and Rembrandt lighting is in the nose shadow. The key light must be placed in a critical position in relation to the subject and the camera so that the nose shadow connects with the big shadow on the same side of the face. This ought to result in a triangle of light under the eye, Rembrandt’s signature in his portraits. The contrast formulated may be scaled down using a fill light with the desired intensity placed on the shadow side of the face or on the camera axis towards the subject.

Dramatic results

This lighting style is linked to chiaroscuro lighting where shadow and light are used to sculpture the subject. The effect is dramatic and lends itself to rugged portraits principally suitable to men. Rembrandt implied natural ambient lighting which seemed to favor harsh sunlight or fire sourced light as used in The Night Watch painting. If extended to broader subjects showing location, the low key technique of Rembrandt and chiaroscuro create dramatic results that have likewise been exploited by the film industry. This may be seen in old films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. However, in modern photography and movies softer lighting roots are employed while still preserving the Rembrandt triangle underneath the eye.

Legacy

There is no doubt that Rembrandts bequest exists in the originative lighting proficiencies invented and employed by the progressed photographer and filmmaker to give rise to depth in these basically flat mediums.