Chapter 13 — Quiz

Twenty-five questions to check your grasp of portrait lighting, posing, directing, and capturing character. A mix of multiple choice, true/false-with-justification, short answer, and "what's wrong with this portrait?" seeing questions. Answer before checking the key at the bottom; for the true/false items, the justification is the real test. No camera needed — this is about whether you can think a portrait through.

Multiple choice

Q1. Which single light setup is described in the chapter as the most flattering and most available portrait light in the world? - A) On-camera flash bounced off the ceiling - B) A bare bulb close to the face - C) One large soft source (a window) to the side and slightly forward, plus a reflector - D) Two hard lights at equal power from both sides

Q2. Short lighting means: - A) The light is positioned close to the subject - B) The main light falls on the side of the face turned away from the camera - C) The exposure is brief - D) The light is below the subject's eye level

Q3. You want to make a round face look slimmer and more sculpted. You should: - A) Broad-light it and lift the chin - B) Short-light it - C) Use flat front light - D) Move the catchlight to the bottom of the eye

Q4. The classic portrait focal length range (35mm-equivalent) for a flattering head-and-shoulders portrait is roughly: - A) 14–24mm - B) 24–35mm - C) 85–135mm - D) 300–400mm

Q5. A face photographed very close with a wide lens looks distorted (enlarged nose, shrunken ears) because: - A) The lens is defective - B) Wide lenses always make people ugly - C) Standing close puts the nose much nearer the camera than the ears, so perspective enlarges it - D) The aperture was too wide

Q6. A catchlight is: - A) A light used to catch the subject's attention - B) The reflection of your light source in the subject's eye - C) A backup light in case the key fails - D) The bright edge light on the hair

Q7. The most natural-looking catchlight position in the eye is: - A) Dead center over the pupil - B) At the bottom (6 o'clock) - C) At the upper corner (10 or 2 o'clock) - D) It doesn't matter where it sits

Q8. In a shallow-depth-of-field portrait, the single point that must be sharp is: - A) The tip of the nose - B) The far eye - C) The near eye - D) The eyebrows

Q9. An environmental portrait differs from a studio headshot mainly because it: - A) Is always shot outdoors - B) Deliberately includes meaningful surroundings that tell you who the person is - C) Never uses a reflector - D) Requires a wide-aperture lens

Q10. Which aperture choice best matches "I want the background dissolved behind a single person, near eye protected"? - A) f/16 - B) f/11 - C) f/8 - D) f/2

Q11. The chapter's recommended way to pose the chin for a flattering jawline is: - A) Lift the chin up and out - B) Tuck the chin straight back toward the neck - C) Push the forehead slightly toward the camera and bring the chin down and forward - D) Keep the chin perfectly level and squared to the camera

Q12. The fastest way to freeze a nervous subject is: - A) Talking warmly and constantly - B) Silence and a frown behind the camera while you fiddle with settings - C) Giving them an action to do - D) Showing them a good frame early

True / False — and why

For each, mark True or False and write one sentence of justification. The justification is the graded part.

Q13. "Relax!" is an effective instruction for a tense portrait subject.

Q14. Broad lighting tends to make a face look wider and fuller than short lighting does.

Q15. You should always stop down to f/11 or f/16 for portraits so the whole face is sharp.

Q16. A genuine smile and a posed "cheese" smile look essentially identical in the final frame.

Q17. In an environmental portrait, the background should be dissolved into unrecognizable bokeh so it doesn't distract.

Q18. A reflector adds a second, separate direction of light to the face.

Short answer

Q19. In one or two sentences, explain why a window's light is soft and flattering on a face, in terms of the size of the source.

Q20. Name the two-part fix for a face that looks distorted because you filled the frame with a wide lens up close.

Q21. A subject puts on the rigid "camera face" the moment you raise the lens. Describe two specific things you'd do (not settings) to get a real expression instead.

Q22. Explain the difference between broad and short lighting in terms of which side of the turned face the key falls on and what each does to the apparent width of the face.

What's wrong with this portrait? (seeing questions)

Q23. A described portrait: "A man stands squared-up to the camera, both feet planted evenly, arms straight down at his sides, chin lifted, looking directly into the lens with a held 'cheese' smile. He is lit by the camera's on-camera flash. Both cheeks are equally bright; there is no catchlight visible, or a small one low in each eye. The background is a cluttered bookshelf one foot behind his head, in sharp focus." List at least four distinct problems and the fix for each.

Q24. A described portrait: "A beautifully posed woman by a window, short-lit, lovely soft shadow on the near cheek, hand resting naturally on a railing, warm expression — but at f/1.4 the photographer focused on the tip of her nose, so the nose is razor-sharp and both eyes are slightly soft." What is the single most damaging error here, why does it read as a mistake even to untrained viewers, and what are two ways to fix it?

Q25. A described portrait: "An environmental portrait of a chef. The kitchen behind is brightly lit and busy — stainless shelves, hanging pans, a window blowing out to pure white directly behind the chef's head — and it's all as sharp and bright as the chef's face, who is squinting slightly into a hard light source camera-right that's carving deep shadows under the eyes." Diagnose what's gone wrong with (a) the background, (b) the light quality, and (c) the light direction, and prescribe a fix for each.

Answer Key

Q1 — C. One large soft source to the side and slightly forward, plus a reflector — the window-and-bounce setup, the heart of §13.1.

Q2 — B. Short lighting puts the key on the far side of the turned face, so the camera sees mostly the shadow side and the face reads slimmer.

Q3 — B. Short-light it. Short lighting slims; broad lighting widens.

Q4 — C. 85–135mm-equivalent — long enough to back off and flatter facial perspective.

Q5 — C. Proximity, not the lens itself: close shooting puts the nose far nearer the camera than the ears, so perspective enlarges it. The fix is to back up and zoom in.

Q6 — B. The reflection of your light source in the eye — the detail that makes eyes look alive.

Q7 — C. Upper corner (10 or 2 o'clock), where natural overhead-ish light belongs.

Q8 — C. The near eye — it's where the viewer looks, so it must be the sharpest point.

Q9 — B. It deliberately includes meaningful surroundings that show who the person is.

Q10 — D. f/2 — a wide aperture for shallow depth of field; you'd protect the near eye and possibly accept a softer far eye.

Q11 — C. Forehead slightly forward, chin down-and-forward — lengthens the neck and defines the jaw. (Counter-intuitive; it feels odd and looks great.)

Q12 — B. Silence and a frown while you fiddle — the subject assumes they are the problem and freezes. (A, C, and D all help.)

Q13 — False. Telling a tense person to relax draws attention to their tension and worsens it; give the body a concrete action instead and the face follows.

Q14 — True. Broad lighting fills the camera-side of the face with light, making it look wider and fuller; short lighting hides the near side in shadow and slims it.

Q15 — False. That much depth of field usually drags the cluttered background into sharp focus and kills the separation; portraits typically use f/1.8–f/5.6, opening up to dissolve the background while protecting the near eye, and stopping down only for two people or to keep both eyes/ears sharp.

Q16 — False. A genuine smile reaches the eyes (the muscles around the eyes crinkle, the gaze comes alive); a posed one stops at the mouth and the eyes stay flat — the camera shows the difference instantly.

Q17 — False. In an environmental portrait the setting is the point — you keep it legible (often by stopping down a little) so it explains the person; you order and subordinate it, you don't erase it. (Erasing the background is the studio choice.)

Q18 — False. A reflector doesn't add a new direction; it recycles the key light, bouncing it back into the shadow side to control how deep the shadows fall (it's fill, not a second key).

Q19. Because the source is large relative to the small face: a wide window close to the face is partly visible around the edges of the nose and brow, producing a wide soft penumbra so shadow edges fade gently rather than snap, and skin renders kindly.

Q20. Back up and use a longer focal length — increase the distance and the focal length together to normalize the facial proportions.

Q21. Any two of: put the camera down and talk about something they love; give the body a concrete action ("drop your shoulders on an exhale," "look out the window then back to me," "walk toward me"); provoke a real reaction with a prompt or small joke rather than asking for a smile; keep the energy up with constant warm reassurance; shoot through a provoked moment rather than holding a pose.

Q22. Broad lighting puts the key on the near (camera-side) cheek, so the camera sees mostly lit skin and the face looks wider/fuller and open; short lighting puts the key on the far (away-side) cheek, so the camera sees mostly the shadowed near side and the face looks slimmer/more sculpted and dramatic.

Q23. At least four of: (1) Flat front light from the on-camera flash — get the light off the front, turn him toward a side/window so there's a lit and a shadow side. (2) Squared-up, chin-up "line-up" pose — angle the shoulders 30–45°, shift weight to the back foot, push forehead forward and chin down. (3) Dangling arms flat at the sides — give the hands a job and create a small gap between arm and torso. (4) No catchlight / low catchlight — turn him toward a defined source so a catchlight appears high (10/2 o'clock). (5) Cluttered, sharp background one foot behind his head — increase subject-to-background distance, find a cleaner backdrop, open the aperture to soften it, and clear anything growing out of his head. (6) "Cheese" smile — provoke a real reaction instead.

Q24. The single most damaging error is focusing on the nose tip instead of the near eye, so at f/1.4 both eyes are soft. It reads as a mistake even to untrained viewers because we instinctively look at the eyes first, and a soft near eye against a sharp nose feels "off" without the viewer being able to name why. Fixes: focus on the near eye (single-point AF or Eye-AF) and confirm at 100%; and/or stop down (e.g., f/2.8–f/4) so the depth of field is deep enough to hold both the nose and the eyes if precise focus is hard to nail.

Q25. (a) Background: too bright, busy, and sharp, with a blown-out window directly behind the head — increase subject-to-background distance, reposition so the window isn't behind the head (or use it as a side light), stop down only enough to keep the kitchen legible while ordering the clutter, and meter so it isn't pure white. (b) Light quality: hard light is carving harsh shadows and causing a squint — soften it (diffuse it, bounce it, move to a window or open shade) so it flatters the face. (c) Light direction: it's making him squint and the deep under-eye shadows suggest a poor angle — bring the light more to a 30–45° side position and slightly above eye level (short-lighting), and have him face away from the hard source so he isn't squinting.

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