Classic

Split Light Hard Portrait

Lighting setup

A gridded softbox dead at 90° camera-left splits the face clean down the nose — lit half fully readable, shadow half near-black with no bounce returning into it.

Classic pattern — Split lighting

Lighting breakdown

1
Split Softbox Key
Gridded softbox at a true 90° camera-left, dead level with the eyes, aimed straight across the face. Lit half fully exposed; shadow half near-black with no fill.
Softbox with grid · 0.85
Softbox

Portrait of a woman with her hair pulled back, lit from camera-left only; the shadow edge runs down the centre of her nose and the far half reads near-black.

Base setup

True 90°. Half the face. Zero fill.

Top view

Complete setup · 1 light

Lights: 1
Contrast: About 9 stops — shadow side unmetered
Catchlight: Small hard rectangle in the lit eye only
Key position: Gridded softbox true 90° camera-left, eye height, elevation 0°
Pattern: Split
Mood: Dramatic / Cinematic
Quality: Hard Light / Gridded
Subject: Female Beauty
Environment: Studio / Dark Background

Mood variations

Woman with dark hair in a taupe top on dark grey, soft light from camera-left wrapping her face with gentle far-side falloff. — No Grid
Same softbox at 90°, grid removed: spill off the room opens the shadow cheek from black to readable. That spill is the only fill in the frame — the eye and jaw on the dark side come back without a second light.

Final look

Base setup

Split light is the cleanest side-light lesson: the key sits level with the eyes on a true right angle to the lens, so the vertical centre line of the nose becomes the light/shadow boundary. Without fill, the far cheek falls away and the drama is the geometry — not a soft Rembrandt triangle or a loop.

Camera & framing

Exposure

ISO

ISO 100

Shutter

1/160 – 1/200s

Aperture

f/5.6

Lens & framing

Lens

85mm

Camera height

Eye level

Framing

Head-and-shoulders portrait, full face with comfortable headroom

Try these settings → Key : fill ratio →

Key notes

1Place the key dead level with the eyes at a true 90° — any forward angle turns it into Rembrandt or loop.
2Kill room bounce and opposite walls; one white wall camera-right will ruin the split.
3Expect a catchlight in the lit eye only; the shadow eye staying dark is correct.
4Mood tabs: No Grid softens the knife-edge. (With Fill withheld — fill morphs the face on this key frame.)