Category: How to light
-
Soft chiaroscuro light for portraits
I set the gridded softbox to the maximum power and the naked one to the minimum (respectively 5 and 1). With the scheme above, I used a Canon EOS 5D and a 70-200mm f/4L IS zoom lens to photograph Francesco.
-
Quick and simple soft light for headshots
It’s a matter of personal taste: generally, when lighting people for portraits, men or women, I tend to prefer soft lightrather than harder, more dramatic settings. I have a simple, go-to scheme that I set up every time I want something soft in a pinch. To make it, I use two large softboxes (I own…
-
Lighting scheme for a radiant look that inspires calm and serenity
For a portrait look that puts the subject in an almost glowing light, I use two large rectangular softboxes. The subject is about 1 m in front of a grey background. I then place the two softboxes so that they are parallel to each other, almost to create a tunnel into which the subject is…
-
One-light setup for wide portraits
Looking for a one-light setup that casts a beautiful set of shadows on the face, is sufficient to illuminate the torso as well (while keeping the right prominence on the face, and softly illuminates the background as well? If so, I may have the right answer for you; the only caveat is that this setup…
-
The best lighting for pizza
Pizza is food so, traditionally, benefits from (moderate) backlighting. Pizza is also large and flat: a large(r) and flat light source was my choice. The Elinchrom Rotalux 90x110cm softbox, placed about 30cm above the pizza, slightly angled, was large enough that I could use its “tail” like some sort of moderate backlight. A small reflector…
-
Warm, soft light for food, with one light source
I would not call a 90x110cm Elinchrom softbox “portable”, however I set for myself the limit of one light source or when I want to shoot food outside of my studio, and albeit I tried and get the results that I wanted with a beauty-dish reflector (smaller and sturdier), I decided I would not settle…
-
Morning light for food
How I re-created in studio some natural-looking morning light for food photography.
-
-
Strobes in continuos-light mode for shallow-focus effect
Studio strobes can be used in continuos light mode with their modelling lamp, which obviously give a lower light output than the flashes. Besides videos, this mode can be used in combination of large lens apertures in order to have a shallow focus. Unfortunately, it usually happens (but it depends on the strobe model) that…
-
Studio light scheme for portraits with fog
Fog (“smoke”) is unreliable because dosing it is difficult. You may find your perfect f-stops and light power settings, but the variability introduced by a fog machine will force you to try and try again. Of course, fog must be lit, or it won’t show up in photography. I’m presenting here a lighting scheme that…
-
Four light sources (and one reflector) for portraits that pop
I am taking advantage of the new large gridded softbbox and I have slightly complicated the light scheme that I have described here. The simple yet effective modifications are: Added a flashgun, placed on the floor, between the subject and the backdrop, pointing at the latter, aiming high. This was trigged by a simple photocell…
-
How to light a muscular man
How to light a muscular man, in order to emphasise his muscle? For this purpose I kind of like the following scheme: I used Elinchrom material, as usual: three D-Lite RX 2 units equipped with: one beauty dish, with the white diffuser cloth that I stole from the Rotaluxes; two 90×110 Rotaluxes equipped with their…