There is something I like with cinema lighting, or lighting for television, when they tend to have faces painted with just two tones of the same skin colour. This might sound strange when I try to explain it, I blame it on not having English as my first language. What I am trying to say is; I like interesting shadows.

For this portrait, a headshot for an author I did a couple of weeks ago, I tried to balance the key and the fill light so there would be one half of the portrait in a lighter skin tone, and the other in a darker.

Gridded key light and a large fill

They key light was a Profoto D1 250 Air with a gridded white Softlight Reflector (beauty dish) from camera left and a large 5-f00t softbox Octa camera right. No reflectors or anything else.

The lights where at the same height, angled down a bit with approx. the same effect setting, maybe a little lower on the fill side. The light in the background was not turned on, I just tried using it for a gradient on the background, but chose to keep it really simple, just two lights.

The camera was, as always, a Nikon D700 using, as always, the 85mm 1.4 lens. Processed in Lightroom 3.

I plan to buy two silver Profoto Umbrella XL and diffusers soon, and variations of this setup will be something I will continue to explore with them. Just by adjusting the light output or angle or position will create completely different portraits.

Painting a picture with mostly two different tones of the same colour can be very freeing, the position of the head is not as important as it is with harder and darker shadows. Here you can skip catchlights and have the model turn their into the shadows and still get an interesting portrait, I think.

I must admit, group shots are not my favorite thing to do on assignments, but many clients wants one, and to say no would be just stupid.

Sometimes, when there are more than five persons in a group, and/or the room/place offers no really good distance, background or lighting condition, I play it safe and tell the client that the group shot probably will be a bit boring. And sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution, lighting-wise.

Small room and tight schedule

This group shot was part of an assignment were I took portraits of jury members during a break they had in their meeting. I had a couple of minutes with each person in another photo station I had set up nearby, but the group shot had a time limit as they were having a presentation in the same room ten minutes later.

And that is almost always the case with the assignments that contains a group element, it is shoehorned into a already tight schedule, which I can understand. Why not take a group shot when the photographer is already there?

Use one light on-axis with the camera

Instead of rushing things too much and having to take down the lights during their presentation, I chose the easiest way I could. By placing one of my Profoto D1’s with a Profoto 5-foot softbox Octa right behind me, as high as I could (not really high at all, to be honest), I wouldn’t need to worry about people casting shadows on each other or anything like that.

Thinking of it now, I might have improved it a bit by placing the group nearer the wall behind them, or right up against it. The camera was set quite low, so the shadows on the wall from the group would not have been much of a problem at all.

That way I would have had a much cleaner background (just the wall), I think they could have fitted in between the two openings on either side of the group, but, at the moment I didn’t think of that. I just wanted to have as much distance between the group and the wall, behind the camera there was a column that stopped me from moving the light and the camera further away from the group.

Always limitations

I would love to plan a group shot better, be able to light it properly and work a bit on how to place the people in different positions in a room, and really use the room and everything a lot better.

But, that is wishful thinking, mostly. 99 percent of all the group shots I have done end up looking a bit like this. If there are more than five people, the easiest way is to line them up like a class photo, light it as flat as I can and hope that everybody keep their smiles wide and their eyes open.

At the same time.

As a photographer, I tend to get stuck on the limits of how I can do group photography. It annoys me a bit that I can’t make it as good as I want it in the short time I am allowed, or in the room I can use. Et cetera.

Finding this really easy way of light a medium sized group without any problem makes it much easier for me to say “sure”, and accept the limits. Because this is exactly what most of the clients want, a clear picture of everybody in the group. Eyes open, nobody talking, no strange faces and everyone attending.

So why make it harder? I don’t know, better for me to focus on the individual portraits and just deliver a group shot that is easy to take. Without any complaints.

I mostly work alone, but I rent a desk in a house full of nice people doing different stuff. Some are copywriters, some write code, some are art directors and the rest work as project managers and planning production. We all work on different projects for different clients, but share a house, so we really should have portraits in a similar style to present ourselves with.

{EAV:40344c0908895b35} (If you wonder what this is, I can tell you that it is a validation code for my Empire Avenue account so they know that this is my blog. If you are a member there, please buy some shares, otherwise, sign up for free. It is both fun and addictive, in a nice way).

Or maybe it was just an excuse for me to try out a different light setup with my brand new Molton fabric and two Profoto D1? I got more or less cooperative models, and they got new profile pictures.

Recently I have been working more and more with fill light in a way that gives more details in the shadows. For this session I used a Profoto D1 250 Air and a Profoto 5-foot softbox Octa as fill.

Right behind the camera stand, as close as possible, I placed the Octa, and removed both diffusors. I usually use it with just the inner baffle on, to get a good combination of soft light and contrast, this time it was a bit harder light from a large light source.

Using just one light from behind the camera would have been a bit flat, so I placed the second Profoto D1 with a white Profoto Softlight Reflector high camera left on an Autopole.

As seen from the model’s perspective

The beauty dish is angled down from about 2 or 2,5 meters up, depending where you measure it. To get a little fill from below, and more light into the eyes, I placed a silver reflector somewhere between waist and chest level.

I use my Chimera panels all the time, they are really great, but I only have large panel frames. To get a bit closer, I used the silver fabric from one of my reflectors and clamped it to a piece of cardboard. Voila, a smaller reflector and I could get closer to my models.

Three dimensional and natural light

I like this kind of lighting. It might not be the most flattering light as it creates shadows here and there that enhances wrinkles and facial features, but it gives a fantastic three dimensional effect and that is important in a portrait.

A dark Molton tunnel

To get rid of reflections from the white walls in my small studio, I use to have book ends on either side of the model, when I want better control of the light/shadow transition.

This time I used my new light blocker, large sheets of Molton fabrics with eyelets, mounted on four Autopoles, creating some sort of dark tunnel where I could control the light without bounced light.

Molton fabric is quite heavy, so it will be a lot easier to use Autopoles rather than light stands, if you don’t have any very large light stands.

Studio Lighting Setup Diagram

This session was shot using a white paper background, and a Nikon D700 with a 85mm/1.4 lens. Shutter speed 1/200s as usual, and aperture f/5.6.

The only real problem I encounted with this setup was my own lack of discipline, as these where my colleagues, I didn’t instruct them as much as I use to, which led to a lot of photos being taken when they didn’t stand exactly where they should. Which led to the light appeared different on different portraits.

There are many good things about placing the main light close to the model, but if you are to take portraits of more than one, make sure they are at the same distance from the light. Otherwise the light in the portraits will differ.

But, the same is the case with different skin types, different hairstyles and everything else that might be different from one person to another.

And, as usual, if you think I missed something, or have any questions regarding the lighting, please write a comment.

I usually don’t let my light modifiers be a part of my portraits, sometimes I have to clone out the corner of a reflector panel or crop to get rid of a softbox that was placed very close to the model.

For this portrait of a Swedish authour and illustrator, we tried a lot of different angles, the white Profoto Softlight Reflector (a beauty dish) was first just used as hair light, placed very close to the background, out of frame. When I changed my position a bit, it became a part of the portrait.

At the beginning of this portrait session, I had the beauty dish more to the right, with a honeycomb grid, to act as a hair light. Or maybe more a rim light.

Angled more towards the background, to also create a soft gradient on the white paper background (like in the photo below).

I tend to set up my lights very close to the person I have in the studio, to be able to get the light precisely as I want. That also means that there is almost room to move around for me. One step to the left and half of the frame will be blocked by the main light, in this case a 5-foot Profoto softbox Octa with a silver reflector underneath.

When I was very close and near the main light, I somehow got an angle where the gridded background light came into the picture. It created a nice backlight, like a haze, so I moved the beauty dish to a spot almost right behind.

I’m usually no big fan of shining lights directly into the lens, most of the time the light just creates ugly effects around the things it passes. But this time I think I got it right. Looking very close, which I try not to do too often, and you might find strange colours and things like that.

But, overall, I think it made the first portrait a lot more interesting than the one without the beauty dish visible.

If I would try this again, I might consider lowering the effect on the back light, just to get back some of the detail now lost on top of her head which now looks almost cut out.

A magazine I work for a lot sent me to a clinic where they are specialized in x-raying dogs, and the vet above is well known in Sweden for being very good at positioning the dogs right, which is important, I have learned.

The assignment was for an article, and usually I try to deliver realistic photos using only available light. But, for some photos, it is nice to bring your own light and not have to rely on the dark skies of Sweden or the un-flattering light from fluorescent lamps.

The light in his clinic was as it usually is in hospitals, fluorescent lamps from above and yellow walls. Outside it was a pretty dark and grey day, so the mix of window light and the available light inside was quite boring.

Most of the photos I took for this article, I did without the help of my Profoto AcuteB 600R, mostly because we did the interview during examinations, and scaring sedated dogs with flashes didn’t like a good idea.

For the portraits (that might end up on the cover, hopefully) I placed the AcuteB 600R on a stand with a Zoom Reflector behind a Chimera panel with diffusion fabric to soften the light a bit.

To miminize the light from the lamps and the windows, I set the shutter speed to 1/200s and used aperture f/5. With such a large light source coming from camera left, there was no need for additional reflectors or fill light.

For some other photos, I used the AcuteB as a constant light source, turning on the modeling light just to add a little more light to the room, from a different angle. It doesn’t scare the animals, even if might be a little irritating. One thing that I have learned about using the modeling light is that it drains the battery pretty fast. Not that fast, but it is easy to forget how long you have it on.

A fun assignment in many ways, very interesting, but working with a camera from behind a lead glass screen is not something I would try to do again, my auto-focus had big problems of finding focus, but then again, the glass is designed to stop x-rays, so it might not be that strange.

Sooner or later I think I need to learn more about using Speedlights for assignments like this. Even if I like the AcuteB, together with some light modifiers, a camera bag and stands, it is hard to call it portable.

Trying to control light in my small studio is something I wrestle with all the time. With white walls close in and a white cyc light usually bounce around everywhere if you don’t stop it.

In the studio, we have large bookends to block light, but I felt we needed something flexible that won’t take up so much floor space.

After looking around on the Internet, I found a shop that sold backdrops, made of black Molton-fabric and with eyelets (I think that is the right word, small round metallic rings/holes?).

Three or four day after my order, the Molton-backdrops arrived and for the portrait above, I hung them on two Autopoles on either side of the model. It is a very heavy fabric, but blocks light completely, so without using so much space on the floor, I could create a small tunnel where no reflections from the walls could enter fom the sides.

The effect, with this kind of lighting, is nice control of the shadows on the sides of his face. Without the black fabric surrounding him, the lighting would have been much flatter (and more boring, I think).

When I am not using this close up, I can hang it on the walls if I need to use the cyc for a larger shoot, but still avoid getting it too flat.

A very simple solution if you want to add a little more contrast and have a small photo studio with white walls.

This will be the last photo from this portrait session I did for a guy wanted to get into the modelling business as a male model. Last I heard from him, he had signed for an agency so I guess the pictures did what they were for. Showing his potential.

First we started with a one-light setup using only a Profoto D1 250 Air and a Magnum reflector, together with a reflector for a little fill.

The only difference from the last shot (read Profoto Magnum model portrait for more details) was that I added a second Profoto D1 behind a Chimera panel with diffusion fabric to act as fill camera right.

You can see a tiny bit of the corner of the panel, up in the upper right corner of this behind the scenes-photo. The effect of this second light is a second catchlight in his left eye and a little more detail on the shadow side of his face.

The one-light portrait I did earlier got a pretty hard contrast treatment, I felt that it was the best way to make it interesting in black and white. This on the other hand could be good even with a softer contrast to keep the details in the shadows visible.

These photos were adjusted for contrast and sharpness in Lightroom, as well as converted to black and white. No skin retouch or stuff like that. Shot with a Nikon D700 with a 85mm/1.4 lens.

Which one do you think works best, just one light or the one with fill?

Very often my clients want photos taken in their office, but to make it look a little better, often with a stock photo as some kind of visual reference. Trying to imitate something very polished, sunny and designed, in an ordinary office has its challenges. Especially when the sky outside is covered with dark clouds.

That is exactly what happened to me lately, when shooting portraits for a client. We had just shot the ordinary portraits against a medium grey background in one of their rooms, when they asked if I could take a couple more. If I could use their office as background, they would be delighted.

Behind the scenes (or the camera)

We chose just one location for five different people, mostly because we didn’t have the time to move the lighting equipment around a lot that day. Their office is very new, with relatively high ceiling and white walls. A good environment in many ways.

Except for the light.

The small image to the right is my first test shot (1/200s and f/5.6). Only the main light (a Profoto D1 250 Air in a 5-foot softbox Octa camera left) is switched on.

Too dark in every way, especially the background which I would like to have brighter than the subject in the foreground. I had to open the aperture to f/2.8 and use 1/60s as my shutter speed to balance the light from the windows in the background, the overhead lights and the light from my D1.

The main light from my Profoto D1 camera left, together with a large reflector camera right gave the model a good exposure. The lights above just added a little, not much and nothing that interfered with the colors.

To get that bright background, just using the light coming in from the windows was not enough. I placed a bare bulb Profoto D1 behind the column to the right in the photo, pointed to the right at a white wall.

The open aperture and the slow shutter speed with a little help from the light in the background made it look like the sun was shining in through the windows.

Which is was not, at all.

I only had two lights with me that day, but if I had a third, I would have placed it on the same line as the background light, but camera left. That would have made the background more evenly lit. But, I think this worked fine.

The distance between the camera and the model, and the model and the background, gave the photo a nice blur in the background. I could have use a 70-200/2.8 and placed myself even further away, but I think this worked with my old 85mm/1.4.

Trying to make photos like this in a smaller office is of course a lot harder, to get the light to look almost real, I think it needs distance. Or a lot more equipment, or a very closer cropping. This photo looks, in my opinion, good both as a landscape crop with a little more details, or a portrait crop with just a blurred background.

I used a Nikon D700 for this, a did all the adjustments in Adobe Lightroom (mainly colors, contrast and a little brightening of the background around the windows).

If you think I have missed anything, or just want to say hi, please leave a comment. It is always very appreciated.

Recently I took some portraits for a guy wanting to try his luck as a male model, click here for the result from the outdoor portrait session on a cloudy day.

Before that we started in the studio with a very simple lighting setup. Just one Profoto D1 250 Air and a gridded Magnum reflector, and a bookend. On white background. No retouching, just him.

This is a “behind the scenes” from my small photo studio. Camera left is the Profoto D1 250 Air on a AutoPole using a SuperClamp (it saves space on the floor, and you can get the light higher up than many stands can, and it feels really stable). You never want to hear your monobloc fall from 2,5 or 3 meter.

Here is the studio lighting setup diagram from this shot, I used a Nikon D700 (as usual) and a 85mm/1.4 lens at f/3.5. Camera right was a black panel, or a bookend, or v-flat. Just a black panel, blocking light from bouncing back on the shadow side from the white wall. Adding a little extra contrast and blackness to the shadows.

The gridded Magnum reflector and the angle from high up made the shadows under his chin long, but it was low enough to add a little catchlight in his eyes.

We did a lot of portraits with this setup, adding small modification and changed angles here and there. Working with a relatively open studio is very freeing, most of the time I add so much stuff that there is only one angle left that is not blocked by lights, stands, reflectors or other things.

And working with just one light is fun, you can do very much with very small modifications and get completely different results.

The reflector (a Chimera panel with white fabric) might not have been in this picture, but the distance from his face did not do much difference, especially not with a black and white conversion with so much contrast and shadows.

If you have any questions, please write a comment.

I mostly work for companies but sometimes there is someone who thinks it might be worth it to hire me just to get good portraits, and pay with their hard earned (and taxed) cash. Not that I am that expensive, but people paying out of their own pocket tend to go for the cheapest alternative (i.e. not me).

The guy in the portrait above wanted to try his luck and send some pictures to a model agency. What he needed was a couple of portraits, without make-up or styling, and we did a couple in the studio and moved outside for a few more under a really grey and cloudy sky.

People say all the time that cloudy days are the best for outdoor portraits, I think it might be because of the soft light. But without a reflector, very often the eye sockets gets very dark and people look a bit gloomy.

Luckily, we had a reflector and together with a very short depth of field, I think the portraits turned out really good. For this I used my Nikon D700, a 85mm/1.4 with an aperture of f/2.

I seldom use apertures larger than f/2.8. Deleting frame after frame just because the focus is slightly off is boring and depressing, I think.

Anyway, when it gets right, there is almost no need for skin retouch, the photos above just got a slight correction with curves and white balance.

Sometimes, portraits can be this simple, and from what I heard he had good luck with one of the agencies he met with. Who knows, he might be the next star? Hopefully he will remember me and let me ride in his Ferrari.