The Before Shot
Prior to setting up our lights for this studio shoot, we first took a shot of our model on the set with just the built-in flash of the camera activated. As you'll see, these types of "before" shots work well to compare against our results as we develop the lighting.

In figure 2, notice how we've captured the moment that the photographer's built-in flash went off. You can see how severe the quality of light is from the sharp shadow cast on the background (figures 1 & 2).

Although this first result shot is fairly well exposed, the quality of light from the flash creates an unnatural look. Additionally, notice the highlights on the forehead, nose and chin. As you can see, this type of light can really exaggerate the presence of oil on the skin, resulting in an unflattering look (figure 3).

The Main/Rim Light
Next, we decided to use an off-camera strobe to light the model from behind for a more natural and somewhat dramatic look. After deactivating the built-in flash, we assembled a Photoflex StarFlash 300/Umbrella kit and placed it to the right of the model, slightly behind her, so that it would serve as our main/rim light (figure 4).

Once the light was positioned where we wanted it, we took a shot (figure 5).

While the light from the umbrella kit provided a nice backlit look, it did leave the majority of the model's face in shadow. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, depending upon the look you're after, but in this case, we wanted to create a somewhat brighter look for our model. Subsequently, we decided to use a reflector to bounce some of this main/rim light into the shadow areas of the face.

We set up a Photoflex 42" MultiDisc kit and positioned it to the left of the model and took another shot (figures 6 & 7).

In the result, we see that the MultiDisc has provided a bright, soft fill for the left side of the face and that we've gained a nice catch-light in the eye. Due to the model's positioning, however, the right side of her face is still fairly dark in shadow. Also notice how the main/rim light has illuminated the edges of the nose and chin. Overall, the range of tones in the face here were a little too severe for the look we were going for.

To even out the tones a little, we asked the model to turn more toward the reflector so that we could increase the amount of soft fill light in the face, as well as eliminate the main/rim light on the nose and chin.

The result shows a significant improvement with respect to tone, but we still have a fairly dark shadow cast on the right side of the nose (figure 8).

Syncing Your Subject with your Lighting
When you're developing the lighting for a shot, you may find yourself at a point where you just don't like the way it looks for your particular subject. When this happens, it's usually best to start over with the positionings of your main light and your model, rather than simply rearranging the lights you already have set up.

Here, we took away the MultiDisc kit and had the model pose away from the main/rim light. When we found a pose we liked (figure 10), we showed the model the result on the LCD of the camera and asked her to stay within that range for the shots to follow.

Next, we brought the MultiDisc fill in again, but this time brought it a little closer toward the camera so that the light it bounced would not cast a long shadow across the nose (figures 11 & 12).

The result shows that the minor repositioning of the model and lights made a tremendous improvement to the overall look. The main/rim light has provided great texture for the hair, as well as separation from the background. The MultiDisc provides a soft, even fill light for the skin and adds nice catch-lights in the eyes.

With just one light and a reflector, we've created a very dynamic lighting set-up.

Repositioning the Main Light
Next, we decided to try a different lighting style with our model by positioning the main light so that it illuminated her face directly. We first positioned the main light the way many photographers new to studio lights do -- far away from the model (figures 14 & 15).

The resulting image illustrates the effects of this type of positioning. While placing your main light far away from your subject can help to even out the light from head to toe, it also increases the contrast of the light. High contrast light is often unflattering for most portraits, as it exaggerates skin imperfections and produces hot spots and sharp shadows that can distort the features of your subject's face.

Here, we see how this light makes our model's skin look less than smooth (click on image to view a larger version). Also notice the hot spot on the end of her nose and the sharp, deep shadows on the left side of her face (figure 16).

Minimizing Contrast
To soften the quality of light projected from the umbrella, we simply brought it in closer to the model, just to the right of the camera (figures 17 & 18).

Remember, the closer you bring your light source in, the larger it becomes relative to your subject. And the larger your light source is, the softer its quality of light will be.

The improvements we've gained simply by bringing the light in closer are substantial. The face is softly lit, the eyes have natural-looking catch-lights toward the tops of the irises, and the shadows cast from the nose and chin are soft and short. Overall, this is a much more flattering main light for portrait work (figure 19).

Clamshell Lighting
Next, we decided to use the MultiDisc to bounce some of the main light into the shadow areas so that it would reduce the overall contrast. We opted for the Soft Gold fabric on the MultiDisc to warm up the skin tones and positioned it at the inverse angle of the main light.

This type of lighting configuration is known as "clamshell lighting", due to the shape the lighting gear makes, and is very common in fashion photography (figures 20 & 21).

While the MultiDisc helped to fill in the shadows and minimize the wrinkles of the face in this result, we thought the effect was a little too strong.

Remember that each person you photograph will require more or less fill, depending upon the tone and characteristics of their face (figure 22).

To lessen the effects of the MultiDisc fill, we simply pulled it back about a foot or so. Once everything was in position, we then had the model give us a variety of poses while we took several exposures. This one ended up being one of our favorites (figure 23).

As we've seen in this lesson, it's possible to create many different lighting styles with just one light and a reflector. An attentive portrait photographer tailors the lighting to suit the characteristics of the subject. Remember to experiment with your lighting configurations and have fun in the process!