portraits of a man

So, in the meantime, I’d love to share some clean and simple portraits photographed using a straightforward 2-light continuous lighting setup – one main light (with a large softbox modifier), one hair light, and one reflector. Some of the images shown below were shot to emphasize how the hair light separates the dark hair and clothing from the dark background, without distracting from the point of interest. Others were shot to show the difference that’s made when you adjust the lighting and reflector in even some subtle ways, which can result in either a more contrasty light – or a softer swath of “wraparound” light.

We filmed the entire lighting demonstration and will be sharing it soon. From my perspective, most lighting demonstrations showcase a male photographer shooting a beautiful female model – we wanted to mix it up a bit, so I went ahead and stayed a woman, and we brought in a beautiful male model instead 😉

A gift for the ladies, some equality for the men and, hey, not that bad of an experience for me!

(Thanks, Steve 😉

The image on the upper left is with the hair light tilted away, so there is less of a break between the clothing and the backdrop, but it’s still skimming across the back of the hair. The top right and bottom left photographs showcase more of the light wrapping around our model. The image on the bottom right is set up so that there is more of a break between clothing at the backdrop, which is why you see the light traveling across the back of the shoulders.