Recently I shoot a couple of studio portraits for some ads, the client was a temp agency focused mainly on recruitment and staffing companies in the finance and banking sector. My assignment was to use their staff as models and create seven different photos all communicating the same thing – this might be the big company hotshots of tomorrow.
4 light clamshell portrait setup
Studio lights, reflectors and flags
As usual, in my tiny studio, there is a lot of work just to avoid getting light to go in every direction. I started with the same clam shell setup I had used for the portraits of the Swedish writer of childrens books, and the illustrator.
As I already had a working light setup that created big catchlights and a shallow depth-of-field that I liked, I started from there.
Black and white portraits
The ad agency that produced the campaign wanted black and white portraits, and with that in mind I could focus more on the contrast than getting pleasing skin tones (most people in Sweden are very pale in February, so black and white photos are very easy to work with that way).
Big catchlights makes eyes look alive
The main light was the same Profoto softbox 5′ Octa (150 cm) I had used before, with a round silver reflector below to create the clam. Most clam shell setups use one light above and one below, but with a reflector I think it is easier to adjust the lighting and the placement of the catchlights, just use a white reflector for softer fill or move the reflector up/down to place the catchlight where you want it.
When you have light coming from above and below, with nice reflections in the eyes, I think it makes people look very good. A little sparkle in the eyes is a good start for a nice portrait.
When looking at the lighting setup diagram for these portraits, it might look as if it is too much equipment included. But, I wanted to make small variations to each portrait and just by moving a reflector or flag a little bit, it was quite easy.
Flags for blocking light (a little bit)
The above portrait has the same medium grey paper background as the top photo but by just blocking/feathering some of the light, the background becomes very different. The same thing applies to the rim lights from behind the models.
Strong rim light or just a touch
The rim light behind the model camera left was a strip softbox with a 7 cm mask, so turning that light just a little made it go from creating a strong effect to barely visible. Of course, the angle of the head also played its part, but it only takes a small variation to create some variations.
Equipment used
This was done with a setup using four studio lights from Profoto, one AcuteB 600R and three Profoto Compact monoblocs. The main light was a 5 foot Octa together with a silver reflector, and behind the models I had one strip softbox, one medium sized softbox behind a diffusing screen and the last one with a gridded reflector for the background.
The camera was a Nikon D700 together with a 85mm/1.4 lens. All photos were developed in Nikon Capture NX2 and adjusted a little bit more in Photoshop. Mostly local contrast adjustments and sharpening.
Please leave a comment, it makes me happy.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Stefan- I appreciate the detail and the behind-the-scenes look at your setups. I am visual person (most photogs are I presume) and yet so many folks just discuss their setups without any visual aids or details on light angles, heights, etc. Thanks for your effort and info. It is an effective learning tool for me as I move forward on my portrait work.
Inspiring work as usual Stefan. I love how you incorporate depth of field into your shots, it’s a really nice touch. Also thanks for posting the details regarding the photo setup, it helps a lot.
Thanks for your comments,
glad to be of any help. I learned a lot from other photographers this way, so I guess it comes natural to give something back. And, at the same time I learn from just writing/drawing down my lighting techniques, it helps me remember and makes it easier to learn from my mistakes.
i must say stef, u r one of the better photgraphers ive seen. not only do u show ur pik, u also show the setup, u also discuss and break down every spec. i truly appreciate that. theres alot of shooters who hav ego’s and r too busy to help, u r not. thanx for all ur help ……….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffnikon/