Lighting setup for portrait

SabrinaO

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I'm taking headshots of an "actor" today. First of all im kinda scared because im going into some strange guys house that I don't know... how do you all deal with that?
Anyways on to my question... im thinking about having my speedlight beauty dish (homemade) camera left and my alien bee for fill camera right. Is this a good lighting setup? Any suggestions? Help is appreciated!
 
If going into a strangers home is uncomfortable then take a helper with you. Safety in numbers.

It amazes me that people agree to these jobs when they seem to have little idea of what they are doing. I mean no disrespect to you but these are questions you shouldn't be asking hours before you do the job. This is something that should be second nature to you if you are a paid photographer, and if it isn't you should have grabbed a friend and done some practise shots well before you walk into this persons home pretending to know what you're doing.

Good luck with it though and sorry for being a bit rude about it.
 
If going into a strangers home is uncomfortable then take a helper with you. Safety in numbers.

It amazes me that people agree to these jobs when they seem to have little idea of what they are doing. I mean no disrespect to you but these are questions you shouldn't be asking hours before you do the job. This is something that should be second nature to you if you are a paid photographer, and if it isn't you should have grabbed a friend and done some practise shots well before you walk into this persons home pretending to know what you're doing.

Good luck with it though and sorry for being a bit rude about it.


First of all ive done practice shots on my husband and they look good to me. But what looks good to me doesn't necessarily look good to everybody! I know what im doing and i don't have to "pretend" to know what im doing... :thumbdown::grumpy: I just want to know what YOU ALL THINK of this lighting setup.
 
Whoa, whoa...I don't think burgo was being disrespectful. Your question was rather vague and isn't the type of question we would expect from someone going to shoot a professional gig.

Beauty dish...OK, that could certainly work. I often prefer a softer light, but it really depends on who I'm shooting and what I want to convey with the photo.
You didn't mention what will be on your Alien Bee. Will it be bare bulb? Standard reflector? Umbrella, softbox etc?

The position of your lights, really depends on the pose, the subject, the background, the goal of the shot etc. We can't really comment on 'left or right', without knowing a lot more.

Yes, the fill light is often used on the opposite side from the main (key) light, but this isn't really ideal in many cases. The more traditional position for the fill light, is very close to the camera axis. You don't want your fill light to cast any shadows that the camera can see.
 
 
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Awesome, Kundalini! Awesome!
 

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