The lighting setups shown on this page describe different lighting situations photographers may use in studio or outside to properly light a subject for a portrait photo. Note that those setups should serve more as guidelines, not as strict rules. This is also why angles of different lights are not indicated: it doesn't make sense to put a light exactly at 30°, and to consider that putting it at 25° would be wrong. The illustrations don't make a difference between hard and soft lights either; experiment with both to see which ones are suited better for a specific situation.
The illustrations use four lights. For some shots, the key light is enough, but other shots may require more lights. To lighten the dark parts (especially on the face of the model), one or more fill lights may be used. To separate hair from dark background, hair light can be added to the setup. In order to separate enough the person from the background, use one or more background lights. Finally, reflectors may be used for additional lighting.
Note that in the illustrations, the key light is always on the left. In reality, you need to put the key light on the same side as the subject's dominant eye—the one which looks more open, if any. Another element to take in account is where the person's hair is parted: watch for the shadows hair may cast on the model's face. When choosing the side of the key light, beware of the glare on the eyeglasses too.