Setting a Main Light
First, we placed our main light in a position that would evenly illuminate both our subject and the guitar he was playing. With this in mind, we aimed the OctoDome slightly down to match the plane of the guitar. As you can see in Figure 1, the face of the soft box and the plane of the guitar were parallel to each other, which gave us the even light we wanted.

We were using a 1000-watt Starlite Lamp in our OctoDome, which enabled us to accurately see the subject in the viewfinder of our digital camera. This is one of the advantages of using continuous lights versus strobes -- what you see is what you get.

We then checked the posing and the exposure on the back of the camera. We set the camera at f/4 for 1/60th of a second for this exposure (figure 3).

Notice that with this position, we were getting some light on the background. This helped to add some depth to the shot. We set the subject up fairly close to the background to achieve this. If you want less background light, you can move your subject and light forward and the background will become darker.

Using a Reflector Panel
To give the portrait a different mood, we added a 39x72" LitePanel reflector to the right side of the set. We initially set up a gold fabric to warm up the shadow, and positioned the reflector from the rear of the subject to reflect on the back of his head and shoulders. This technique is typically called "rim lighting" (figure 4).

The result shot shows that there is now some detail on the dark side of the subject's head and shoulder. There is not a lot of light coming from this reflector, but just enough so that you can identify detail in the shadow (figure 5).

Keep in mind that this technique largely comes down to personal preference with respect to the amount of light you want to reflect into the shadows. If you move the reflector closer to the subject, this rim light will become brighter. We encourage you to experiment with the positioning of your reflectors so that you can produce the amount of rim light that you think works the best.

To further demonstrate how to subtly change the feeling in the shadow, we moved the LitePanel reflector forward and more to the side of the subject into a position. This light is commonly referred to as the "fill" light (figure 6).

With this fill light, we were able to reflect more light onto the face. Again, the brightness of the fill shadow will depend on how close you move the reflector to the subject. There is no "correct" distance.

One of the great things about digital cameras and continuous light is that you can position your fill, take a shot, check the results on the back of the camera, and quickly reposition the fill for better results. Keep all the results and compare them on your computer later to decide on which one you like the best!

In this result, you can see that the reflected light is much farther forward and brighter than the previous rim light (figure 7).

The gold fabric provides a "yellow" light, which gives the shadow, and therefore the subject, a warmer look.

In this comparison of our results, you can see the difference in the shadow on the left side of the subject's head (figure 8).

1. The shadow is completely dark, and there is no detail in the left side of the glasses.
2. We added the rim light to just bring out the ear and the corner of the glasses without adding too much light on the face, to keep the moody lighting set up.
3. We moved the reflector forward and sideways to put more light on the face and the elbow and side of the left arm.

Which one is the "best"? That's up to you. Being able to control your lighting elements in this way allows you to create and choose from a variety of lighting styles.

Placing a Fill Light
A powered light source can be used instead of a reflector panel as your fill light. Here, we used another Starlite head on a LiteStand with a WhiteDome soft box (figure 9).

The WhiteDome is an omni-directional light source, meaning that light is emitted from almost all angles, not just from the face of the soft box. Removable side panels can be attached to let the WhiteDome perform as a standard soft box. Here, we had the panels in place for this lighting setup.

We positioned the light even further forward than the reflector setup. The light-to-subject distance was a bit more than twice the distance of the main light. This provided a nice lighting ratio from main to fill, close to 3:1.

As you can see, the shadow areas in this result have opened up even more with greater detail (figure 10). The brighter, repositioned fill light gives more detail on the guitar neck. The subject's shadow side is brighter, yet still has interesting shadow detail. Do you see how the side of our subject's head is more detailed, as well as his left arm and leg?

Also notice how the background is somewhat brighter from spill of the fill light.

A New Approach
The same lighting gear can be reconfigured to provide different results. This is where the fun of studio shooting really happens. Trying various lighting setups is an exploration of the possibilities of a great image.

This time we kept our main light in position and removed the WhiteDome fill light. To narrow the illumination of the main light, we attached a set of Grids to the OctoDome soft box (figure 11). This directed the light only forward, blocking the light that would otherwise emit toward the sides. The use of Grids resulted in a significant reduction of light spill on the background.

The two results shown below were made using only the main light, a 3-foot OctoDome, with accessory Grids attached (figures 12 & 13). This time, the background was completely black, as most of the light was directed at the subject.

We chose to show these two results because we liked each one for different reasons. The first image (figure 12) is a very dramatic shot, which captures the musician as the center of attention. In the second shot, the musician is looking down (figure 13). His face is more obscured and most of our attention is directed at his guitar.

This is something to consider when shooting an assignment for a specific client. If your client is the musician, the first shot would work best. If your client is the guitar manufacturer, then you would probably choose the second shot. This subtle difference in positioning and lighting allows you to choose whether the image will be most effective in selling the guitar or spotlighting the person playing it.

For the next shot, we put the gold LitePanel reflector back in position as a fill light (figure 14).

Again, the LitePanel has provided a nice, subtle fill, rendering detail on the subject's head, shirt and pants (figure 15).

Using the WhiteDome as a Hair Light
Since we had a darker background in this series of pictures, we decided that a hair light would go a long way to separate the subject from the background.

The WhiteDome can be used very effectively as a hair light. Since we wanted the light to be suspended above the subject, we attached it to a Boom and Boom Stand and positioned it directly overhead (figures 16 & 17).

Note: You should always counterbalance any load on a boom with a weight bag or two to stabilize your lighting set-up.

Also, it's good practice to always check the effect of your individual lights on the subject. Here, we turned off the main light to review the effects of just the hair light (figure 18).

Notice how the head and shoulders have light that separates the subject and the background. Also notice how the lower part of the background is lit with the hair light.

Next, we turned the main light on and put the reflector in place again. Below is the resulting shot (figure 19).

This image was shot using the main light with Grids, the gold panel fill light, and the hair light positioned overhead. As you can see, the result looks great.

We then took advantage of the versatility of the WhiteDome by removing one of its side panels. This let more light fall onto the background. Figure 20 shows how the WhiteDome looks with the rear panel removed.

As you can see, the background is now more evenly illuminated (figure 21). The advantage of the WhiteDome soft box is that it allows you to modify the lighting effects easily, and in a matter of seconds.

Let's take a look at three results we achieved in this lesson.

1. The first photo was taken with just one light and a rim light fill. This portrait is effective in giving shape to the subject's head, while providing subtle light on the right side. Also, there is just enough light on the background to give the photo a feeling of depth.
2. The second photo was taken with two lights -- a main and a fill. By adding a second light to your arsenal, you can significantly increase the variety of lighting set-ups. With just a fill reflector, you have to rely on your main light to power it. But if you have a separate, independent light to serve as your fill, you can place it wherever you want. A second light also allows you to make the fill as bright or as dim as you want.
3. In the third photo, we were able to move the two lights around and bring the fill back in as an added light source to give us a yet a different lighting configuration. Remember, versatility is necessary to assist in the creative process.

Successful portrait lighting begins with having the right tools and employing the appropriate techniques to achieve the look you're after. As you can see from this lesson, more often than not, a small adjustment or modification to the lighting can make a huge difference in the resulting image. This lesson is just one example of how a simple lighting set-up can be fine-tuned to create a variety of results based on your own taste.