Getting control of your light to create light, shape and form is essential to getting a diverse style of capture in your portfolio but equally having lighting techniques in your arsenal helps you work  at different level.
Those are the four main lighting patterns traditionally used in portraits.  Once you master the technique for each they map out into any other lighting types from flash to LED.  Getting control of your light to create light, shape and form is essential to getting a diverse style of capture in your portfolio but equally having lighting techniques in your arsenal helps you work  at different level.