Three Light Setups
As I said with the two light setups, it is important to remember the lessons we learnt with a single light still apply to each individual light in a multi-light setup. Again, for the maximum control, each light should be metered individually.
Classic key light, fill light and hair light
This is a very standard setup using three lights. The key light provides the main lighting source, the fill light lifts the shadows on the opposite side, and the hair light gives definition against the black background.
A simple variation on this setup would be to move the hair light and use it as a background light.
Rim lighting
We've popped Pixie Elle into a slightly different outfit to demonstrate this style of lighting. This is a great dramatic look and there are a number of variations you can use as well like adding gels and moving the lights forward and backwards from the model to change the shadowing.
Rim lighting also works really well with things like sports shots, accenting muscle definition, flour shoots and smoke.