The purpose of the diploma thesis was to analyze and observe the impact of facial features on the appearance of a subject in a photograph taken with various lighting techniques and to determine the best use of these styles based on the purpose of the photograph.
The theoretical part is a brief summary of the history of photography, the properties of light, and their influence on the appearance of a photograph. There is a brief introduction to studio equipment for lighting and lighting ratios. Finally, there is an extensive presentation of the basic lighting techniques in portrait photography. Eight different lighting styles are introduced: split lighting, loop lighting, Rembrandt lighting, butterfly lighting, broad lighting, short lighting, rim lighting, and background lighting.
The experimental part is divided into five main steps. In the first step, the best light source for further research is determined, then the impact of properties of light on the appearance of the face in the photograph. The results of the next step are photos of eight different lighting styles taken with one light source. Later, the step is repeated once more, only this time three more side lights are added to the main light. The obtained photos are later analyzed in detail. The images further on, show the studio equipment placement for each of the lighting styles. By conducting an online survey, the last step is to define which lighting style is most suitable for a specific purpose. The four most common uses for portrait photos have been determined by us.
The survey results, shown in the fourth chapter and explained in the fifth, mostly confirm our hypotheses. Obtained results can be useful as guidelines for different purposes of portrait photography.
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