First, you may want to soften both the key and fill lights, for a less dramatic effect. Tame the key spot by clipping a spun glass sheet across its open barn doors. The light will remain directional, only less punchy.

Next, try replacing the fill light scoop or broad with a soft box, umbrella or fluorescent pan. This much larger fill source looks more natural and rarely throws a shadow of its own, if you need to move it further forward. The larger source will deliver less fill per unit area, so it will be less aggressive. To perfect the look, move the light in and out until most, but not all, shadow details are visible on your reference monitor.

To complete the revision, move the back light farther away from the subject (or flood it, if using a spot) to cut down its intensity. Work for an unobtrusive glow that separates subject from background without calling attention to itself.

As you study the final effect (Figure 2) notice that the lighting style hasn't changed, so much as the intensity has. Realism is no more than pictorial realism with the tah-daaaah! toned down.

Unlike the other styles, naturalism works by mimicking actual light conditions as closely as possible, which is a very popular look for feature films nowadays. Naturalism often relies on very large lighting instruments like fluorescent pans to deliver ultra-soft, single-source illumination that seems to wrap around the subject. The closely held secret is that three-point lighting can also achieve a naturalistic look.

In this scheme, try using soft lights for both key and fill. The key light will deliver the natural window light effect you want. To enhance the illusion, lower the light almost to subject eye level. Move the large-source fill light away until only the lightest parts of the shadow areas are readable in the reference monitor. You may also want to pull the fill light around to the nine o'clock position, The result should look to the civilian eye as if there were no fill light at all.

As for the back light, keep it very moderate, but don't worry about that slight extra hair and shoulder glow.

Paradoxically, the luminous effect of the wraparound key and fill lights conceals the artificiality of the back light. (Incidentally, by powering this light through a dimmer, you can reduce its intensity to taste, while warming it romantically as it dims.) The full setup will resemble Figure 3.

And that's a wrap for this month. I hope you're convinced that corny old three-point lighting is actually a subtle yet versatile technique for creating almost any look that you want to achieve.

Good shooting!

Contributing Editor Jim Stinson is the author of the book Video Communication and Production.