# Top light

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

Light from straight above: eyes sink into shadow, isolated and stark.

- Use when: Interrogations, lonely figures under a lamp, boxing, a single product on a table.
- Phrase: one lamp directly above her head, her eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around her
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/light/top-light
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/light/top-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)
- Eyes go dark under top light; add a faint bounce from below if the eyes must read. (film-craft; General film vocabulary, as also used in ShotDeck's filters)

## Prompts

### Nano Banana Pro

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. One lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject.
```

### Nano Banana 2

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. One lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject.
```

### GPT Image 2.5

```
A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].
Details: one lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject
Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.
```

### Seedream 5

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. One lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject.
```

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot
Light: one lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1: one continuous shot
Light: one lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. One lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject.
```

### Veo 3.1

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image. One lamp directly above the subject's head, the subject's eye sockets in shadow, a pool of light on the floor around the subject.
```

## 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

- High noon: https://directorchair.ai/time/high-noon
- Low-key contrast: https://directorchair.ai/light/low-key-light
- Practical lights: https://directorchair.ai/light/practical-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.