# Side light

Light and look / Light / Contrast. Checked 2026-11-13.

Half the face lit, half in shadow: shape, texture and tension.

- Use when: Serious portraits, thrillers, craft and texture close-ups.
- Phrase: a single light from her left at head height, the left side of her face bright, the right side falling into shadow
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/light/side-light
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/light/side-light.json

## Watch out

- A style word for light does nothing. Name the source, where it sits against the person, and what fills the shadow side. (measured; Director Chair field notes on image prompting)

## Prompts

### Nano Banana Pro

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. A single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow.
```

### Nano Banana 2

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. A single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow.
```

### GPT Image 2.5

```
A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].
Details: a single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow
Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.
```

### Seedream 5

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. A single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow.
```

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot
Light: a single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1: one continuous shot
Light: a single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. A single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow.
```

### Veo 3.1

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image. A single light from the subject's left at head height, the left side of the subject's face bright, the right side falling into shadow.
```

## Look further

- https://shotdeck.com/ : real film examples of this lighting (paid, link only)
- https://flim.ai/ : film, ad and music-video stills of this lighting (free tier, link only)

## Goes well with

- Rembrandt light: https://directorchair.ai/light/rembrandt-light
- Hard light: https://directorchair.ai/light/hard-light
- Low-key contrast: https://directorchair.ai/light/low-key-light

## Source

Own words; the term from general film vocabulary, as also used in ShotDeck's filters

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.