In this article and the accompanying video, I’ll show you how to create four unique portrait styles using a lamp and v-flat.
When I first became interested in portrait photography, one of the biggest hurdles for me was the almost endless amount of gear options. I panic at the thought of choosing lights, modifiers, stands, backdrops and even triggers. I’ve made quite a few purchases that I end up regretting because I think certain gear will help me get the look I’ve seen in other photographers’ work. It took me a while to learn that creating impressive and unique portraits doesn’t require tons of expensive equipment, and that was the inspiration for this piece.
All photos in this article were taken with a Nanlite FS-300, Angler 36″ deep parabolic heatsink with mesh, and two v-flats from V-Flat World. I take pictures with a Fujifilm X-T5.
Setup 1: Camera placed slightly on the left
IN 1A . setting, the light is placed to the left of the subject at an angle of about 45 degrees and slightly above the subject’s eye line. I used a black v-flat camera on the right and a mesh-equipped softbox. By using a black v-flat facing my subject, his right side is shaded quite deeply. The mesh also adds drama as it keeps light from spilling around the subject and background. This setting produces deep blacks in dark areas, which while impressive, may not be ideal depending on your shooting goals.
This brings me to Set up 1B, which is exactly the same as 1A, except that I flipped the camera to the right in a v-flat vertical so that the white side is now facing the subject. Notice the big difference this makes on the shadow side of the image. Bold shadows are removed and most details can still be seen behind the subject, as well as around his legs and feet. Things get more subtle by simply flipping the v-flat around because instead of absorbing the light, the white v-flat bounces back and fills the camera-right side of the subject. In general, I like this way better than the first setup, as I don’t like when details are lost in jet black and love the subtle transitions from highlights to shadows. However, there is a time and place for both of these, and the photographer must assess what is best for the particular situation.
Setup 2: Light is placed directly above
IN Set up 2A, the light is placed directly above the subject and down towards the subject. When the light is directly above the subject’s face, the shadow will now fall below the chin, helping to accentuate the jawline. This will give you the same results as using the beautify disc, but since this modifier is larger than the beautify disc, the shadows will be less harsh and the overall effect more subtle. Similar to Setting 1, this will work well for everything from panoramic portraits to close-ups. Usually, I intentionally place the subject directly in front of the background because I like how the shadow on the background interacts with the rest of the photo, like in the image below. However, you can easily move objects out of the background if you want to separate them without using the background as the highlight of the image. One problem you will have with this particular lighting is that light from above will create “panda eyes”, which are deep shadows in the eye sockets. There are several ways to avoid this. First, you just need to tilt the subject’s head towards the light, as I did here. But what if you want the subject to look into the camera and also want the light in the eye? The answer is simple, and I call it Set up 2B. Again, I didn’t move the light, but instead just added a white v-flat white underneath to reflect the light back to his face and eyes. As before, the white v-flat makes a huge difference in the overall image. One benefit of the V-Flat World product is that it can be folded into a table for your subject to lean on and can be used for some great half-length portraits. Another great reason to use this setting is because it works really well for head shots. See how soft the transition from light to shadow is and how it compliments the subject. And all I had to do was zoom in.
Setup 3: Light Placed Behind Subject
IN 3 . setting, I take the light, place it directly behind the subject and remove the mesh. Since this setup will create a silhouette, I positioned him for the profile picture. Although I wanted a silhouette, I didn’t want him to be all black, so once again my v-flat came to the rescue. I put a flat white v-glass in front of him so the light bounces off his face. This way I can add enough light in front of the face so that I can edit it to my liking without losing all the details in the shadows. I paid close attention to make sure I created a little triangle of light on his cheek, like the shape you get with Rembrandt’s light, because I felt this made my subject more interested. Finding the right exposure here will be a challenge because if you expose the “right” part of the front of the face, the rest of the image will be blown out. If you expose the background, the face will be completely dark. The answer here is to experiment to find the look you like and speak for your artistry. I edited this particular image in Related Photos to bring out more detail and also give it more accent.
Setting 4: Close the hard light
IN 4 . setting, I created a stiffer and more angular look by removing the softbox from the light and using only a bare reflector instead. The light is placed very close to the subject, high overhead, and shines straight down. At first, my model wore a black jacket and I felt that the result was too dark due to the jacket absorbing a lot of light. I asked him to change into his black jacket and wear a light colored shirt, because this will also make a big difference in the resulting image. Just as a black v-flat absorbs light, black clothing will also absorb light, so always be aware of what your subject is wearing and how the clothing can affect the level of light. Exposure. I also asked him to keep a piece of white poster board under his face, just outside the frame, and add a white v-flat camera to the right. The white poster board reflects the light back into his face and although the final image is still quite impressive with lots of shadows, reflecting some light into the shadow areas will help retain the scope. animation and makes editing much easier without damaging the face. complete darkness.
Final thoughts
One mistake I made early on in my journey as a studio photographer was buying a modifier that I would only use once. It’s all too easy to accumulate gear when we’re experimenting and trying to find that elusive “perfect light”. Instead of buying a ton of lights and dimmers, get yourself a good light and a dimmer, and experiment with that until you can see how the light hits and around your subject. any. I highly recommend using a continuous light like the Nanlite that I used for these images, because you see the results in real time, making it a great tool to learn the way light hits a person’s face. There are limits to continuous light, but they have come a long way in the past few years and many photographers are still using them for portraits and portraits.
Seeing light is a skill one can develop, just like hearing and understanding music. When I first started playing electric bass as a teenager, I would listen to music, but I couldn’t hear the bass. It took some time and active listening before I could easily recognize bass lines in different genres of music. Then it became the outstanding voice that I would hear and still hear to this day. Understanding and seeing how light works is very similar to this. When I first started, I didn’t see many of the subtleties that I now see when creating photos, and it took a lot of practice in the studio and research into the work of photographers I admire to come to grips with. The head recognizes and internalizes light. Of course, it’s a skill I’m still working on and one that we can all develop throughout the day just by observing the light around us in any given situation.
