There’s Always a Kicker

My lighting setup is tailored to the individual that I’m photographing, but one thing that I always like to add is a kicker light. A kicker is a light that’s placed behind the subject off to one side that creates a bright highlight to their face that adds depth and dimension.

It kicks off their face—it creates a highlight as it skates off the face from that oblique position behind the subject.

You can see it in this photograph. It’s the bright area that catches her hair on the right side of the photograph, plus the side of her face and a bit of light on the side of her nose. Without a kicker, the face tends to be more flat in appearance and working with a two-dimensional medium, my job is to create a three-dimensional appearance by sculpting with light.

There’s also a softbox on the opposite side, the left side of the photo (you can see the square catchlight in her eye), and that creates shadowing on the side of her face with the kicker light. Together, they create a very pleasing look and the portrait has depth.

Similarly here, the light on the left side of her face, the bright kicker light, makes her portrait look vibrant and professional.

Some photographers want to eliminate all shadows and highlights, but those are the two things that really bring a strong look to a portrait.

When you get here, don’t worry, there will be a kicker!