simple lighting setup for headshots

This is one from a series of images for Graham, to use at casting calls. We did a number of straight-forward portraits at first .. but towards the end of the session went for a more free-form portrait session where Graham performed in front of the camera. This in the end showed a lot more of his personality.

More about the lighting set-up ..

The lighting setup was simple. A flashgun bounced into a 60″ umbrella to camera left, and another flashgun against the background to give a little bit of separation.

I used Q-flashes, but they might as well have been speedlights. The background was a paper roll background set up in my living room.

settings: 1/200 @ f8 @ 200 ISO, to expose for my subject.

I don’t recall what the specific metering was for the background, but I wish I had moved the flashgun a little bit more to spread the light more over the background, instead of so localized.

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24 Comments »

Nice shot Neil and looks great in B&W. How far generally would you have your subject from the background. I guess in the living room not very far? but as a general rule of thumb?

John

Comment by John — April 4, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
John, the background needs to be back “as far as possible” to give a pleasant out-of-focus look to it. Realistically, this usually means at least 8 or 9 ft between your subject and the background. You want to avoid your subject casting shadows on your background. (This isn’t really an issue with a high-key shot.)

But there are always the practical considerations. I had set this up in my small-ish dining room. I had to stand in the kitchen to get the perspective correct. This will also explain why his hand is slightly over-exposed – it was just that bit closer to the flash and the umbrella.

In this case, the background was only about 6 feet behind him .. which isn’t ideal. I would’ve liked more. I can see the backdrop texture. Ideally I wouldn’t be able to with a smooth background / backdrop.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 4, 2010 @ 5:53 pm
is it just me…or does the area around his wrist (right hand) have some smudges?

Comment by DGV — April 4, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
DGV … you might be seeing some sloppy application of the localized correction brush as I pulled down the exposure a touch on his hand.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 4, 2010 @ 8:37 pm
Neil
I have noticed that your work seems to use bounce Umbrella as opposed to shoot thru, (Re: group shots) I know that bounce has more contrast any thing more to this.???
Nice shot here by the way.

John

Comment by John — April 4, 2010 @ 11:05 pm
John, I mostly use the umbrellas with the black backing (and hence bounce into the umbrella) because it really reduces the risk of lens flare when I move in a position where the light from a shoot-through umbrella would hit my lens. It’s just an easier way to shoot, rather than being specific about the difference in the look between the bounce and shoot-through umbrella types.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 5, 2010 @ 8:38 am
Hi there, I’m new to your blog and loving all the easy to understand lighting tips, especially on the use of speedlights. I am new to photography in general, and am starting to venture into off-camera lighting. I have a 580EXII and a 430EX, both modified with Gary Fong diffusers (one whaletail studio and one lightsphere). I feel like the off camera speedlight is giving my subject a bright and greasy look, not a soft, matte, direction light like I want. Any tips/thoughts on what I may be doing wrong? Would you recommend the use of an umbrella over GF diffusers?

Comment by Abby — April 5, 2010 @ 10:05 am
Oh, and I should clarify. When I’m outdoors using ambient light, this isn’t a problem. It’s only when I’m indoors using flash as my primary lightsource. Thanks!!

Comment by Abby — April 5, 2010 @ 10:09 am
Hi there Abby … I wouldn’t use the Lightsphere as off-camera light modifier. The easiest to use would be either an umbrella or a softbox. Both are fairly forgiving in how you place it (as compared to say a beauty dish), and the light is soft and directional.

An umbrella is arguably the simplest light modifier to use, and the easiest to set up.

As for shooting indoors, when there are surfaces you can bounce your flash off, my heart-felt suggestion would be to throw the tupperware away. Also the plastic toilet bowl thingy. This kind of on-camera light modifier generally work against you getting soft directional light from your flash. You simply won’t be able to get results like this, when you use a Lightsphere indoors and have surfaces you can bounce your flash off.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 5, 2010 @ 10:11 am
Hi Neil,

Thanks for posting the sketch – I know it takes more time and effort – but it is very helpful – much appreciated.

Best, Pasquier

Comment by Pasquier — April 5, 2010 @ 10:12 am
what settings for the q-flash/speedlights? manual or ettl?

Comment by Karen — April 5, 2010 @ 10:45 am
Karen .. with a static setup like this, or any studio-type set up, where the subject remains in a specific position in relation to the lights, then manual flash is the simplest and most predictable.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 5, 2010 @ 4:48 pm
“This isn’t really an issue with a high-key shot.”

Neil what do you mean by this. I take it you are not talking about a studio/white backdrop. I always find it difficult to get enough distance (in the studio) between my subject an the white backdrop to keep the background lights from bouncing off the white and onto my subjects. Someone suggested having the background a stop darker than the main and then use the dodge tool in Photo shop get back to white. Theory being that the light on the subject will be better and less contaminated. I would like to know your thoughts on this method.

John

I’M with Cirian on the Irish interior design thing.

Comment by John — April 6, 2010 @ 10:52 am
John .. I did actually refer to a white backdrop. But you’re probably right in that it would need some help in Photoshop like that. Especially with a short working distance.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 6, 2010 @ 10:55 am
I’d like to learn more about the paper background rolls you use for headshots. What do you recommend? I had purchased a black velvet background-in-a-big from Photek as well as a Photek background support system, but now realize that the black background has limited utility for portraiture. So, I’d like to try something else for headshots.

Comment by Mark — April 6, 2010 @ 10:59 am
Mark, I use the Savage seamless paper backdrops. They do need some type of support system of stands and a cross bar.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 6, 2010 @ 12:03 pm
Abby,
I just browsed through your gallery and its very impressive for someone new to photography. I’m an amateur and i really liked your composition.

Regarding lighting, Gary Fong’s lightsphere does not give you the soft look you might be looking for. It will work outdoors since you are then using your flash for ‘fill light’. As a general principle (and you will read a lot about it here) the larger the light source in comparison to the subject, the softer the light. So i guess using an umbrella or a softbox would be a good option. I personally like using a softbox as it gives you a lot of control over the direction and spill of light…but for group shots and stuff, you may need an umbrella. There are generic versions of the Lastolie ezybox softbox you can purchase for under $100.

Comment by DGV — April 6, 2010 @ 1:12 pm
Thank you for the tip and the kind words, DGV. I am a year and a half into business, and I really appreciate your suggestions. I have spent some time researching Lastolie softboxes and love the idea, especially that I can use them with my speedlights. Will definitely pursue this option and continue to read ths blog for more how-to tips! Thanks again.

Comment by Abby — April 7, 2010 @ 10:29 pm
Actually I like it when a back ground light is localized as you have it in this portrait. Where it is, and how it is, creates a counter balance that works with the brightness of his left hand and face. Moving it to create more of a spread on the background most likely would lessen the counter balancing effect that works so well in this image.

Comment by Steve Burns — April 12, 2010 @ 9:10 am
Are you useing the silver umbrella or white umbrella?
And what is your speedlite power at the large umbrella like this?

Thank you.

Comment by Tony — April 17, 2010 @ 3:16 am
Hi there Tony .. I don’t have silver umbrellas. I just use white umbrellas, as listed here. I mostly use the black-backed umbrellas so that I don’t risk lens flare when I move behind the umbrella.

The power of the flashgun / speedlight / Q-flash is adjusted for that specific combination of aperture and ISO and distance.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 18, 2010 @ 11:43 am
What lens length are you using for this one?

Great site always learning new things from here,

Comment by Steve — April 18, 2010 @ 12:06 pm
Steve, I used the 70-200mm f2.8 here, and the EXIF data says 120mm.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 18, 2010 @ 12:21 pm
I might be late to the party but I did a similar set up but only had 10 feet of space total. It was a pain but what I did was put the backlight directly behind the subject to eliminate shadows. I had 1 main light directly next to camera right and a reflector on subject left. The shots came out really nice all things considered.

Comment by Jai Catalano — November 8, 2012 @ 9:42 pm