adamhiram
No longer a newbie, moving up!
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One of my goals in learning studio lighting was to take better school photos than what typically came home from school. A criticism I frequently had was the flat cross-lighting often used, where key and fill were equal power, the face lacked shadows and dimension, and the eyes always had horizontal double catchlights, which I found unsettling. It was also pretty common for them to be taken on a green screen, where the hair never seemed to be cut out very well, and the lighting rarely matched that of the composited background.
This is a portrait of my son I took for school, with fairly traditional lighting. Nothing too exciting, but hopefully well-executed.
Lighting setup (see pullback photo)
Nikon Z6II with 85mm f/1.8 lens
85mm, f/8, 1/200s

20210925-DSC_4239a-crop2-5x7 by adamhiram, on Flickr

20210925-DSC_4277a by adamhiram, on Flickr
This is a portrait of my son I took for school, with fairly traditional lighting. Nothing too exciting, but hopefully well-executed.
Lighting setup (see pullback photo)
- Key: I used a 38” octobox (technically a dodecabox) somewhere between loop and Rembrandt lighting. My goal was to shape the face withe s significant amount of shadow, and create a pleasing single catchlight.
- Fill: My go-to modifier for fill is a 42” white reflector, moved close enough to give a 2:1 key/fill ratio. I find that a white reflector is a great way to brighten shadow detail without adding a noticeable 2nd catchlight in the eyes, as you would see with a silver reflector or separate light source.
- Background: I used a pair of bare strobes in reflectors to evenly cross-light the background, with barn doors to control spill. The backdrop is a dark gray hand-painted canvas that I find to be quite versatile, particularly with colored gels (although none were used here).
Nikon Z6II with 85mm f/1.8 lens
85mm, f/8, 1/200s

20210925-DSC_4239a-crop2-5x7 by adamhiram, on Flickr

20210925-DSC_4277a by adamhiram, on Flickr