What the key, fill and back light each do, and how far you can get with a single source.
Three-point lighting is not a rule, it is a starting point. What needs to be learned is not where the lamps go but which question each of them answers. If you know the questions you can build the scene even without three lamps.
Key light — the logic of the scene
The key light tells you where the image is lit from. Its direction and hardness set the tone of the scene. Placed near the camera the face flattens, shadow disappears and the picture looks like a news broadcast. Given at 45 degrees and slightly from above, the face gains volume.
The size of the source sets the hardness. A source that is large relative to the subject produces soft shadow, a small one hard and sharp shadow. Moving the same lamp closer makes it larger, which is to say softer. Before you buy diffusion, try moving the lamp closer.
Fill — how much information stays in shadow
Fill light does not add a new direction; it decides how far you open the shadow the key left behind. The difference between key and fill is the contrast ratio of the scene. Little difference: a comfortable, commercial, reassuring image. Great difference: a tense, dramatic image that hides things.
Most of the time fill does not need a lamp. A white foam board, a tablecloth, even a light-coloured wall will do. A bounce gives a more natural result than a lamp because the light behaves as though it really came from there.
Back light — separates subject from background
The back light leaves a thin rim along the subject's shoulder and hair line. Its job is to lift the character off the backdrop. Against a dark background, someone in dark clothing sticks to the wall without it.
It is easy to overdo. If a white halo is visible on the hair it is too much. The right setting is the one that does its job without being noticed.
How far a single source goes
Most professional work is shot with one key source and a few bounces. A window is a large, soft key — free, and usually the best one. Place the subject at 45 degrees to the window, put a white board on the shadow side, find something separating behind them. You have built a three-point setup without three lamps.
Once the scene is lit, switch every lamp off and on one at a time. If nothing in the image changes when you switch one off, that lamp is unnecessary.
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