Often, the simplest things are the best. One light, one reflector, and a low camera angle – this is my go-to one light photography setup, and here’s why I love it and how you can replicate it for your own portraits.
Setting Up the Soft Box
For this one light photography setup, I’ve positioned my main light source – a big soft box – to the left of Symone as we’re looking at her. I’ve asked her to stand with her body towards the light and her face brought slightly further around towards me. This is called the two thirds position. To achieve it, start with your subject’s face in profile, then bring it two thirds of the way towards being straight on to your camera.
When your subject is facing slightly away from your camera, one side of their face will have more visible width than the other. If the more visible side is lit, this is known as broad lighting – a pattern that makes the face look wider, so it’s ideal for flattering people with narrow faces. If the side of the face with more visible width is in shadow, then this is termed narrow lighting. This is flattering for the majority of people, as it makes the face appear slimmer. Here, I’ve used narrow lighting.
The soft box is high up and angled down towards Symone. This gives a flattering direction to the light on her face and torso while also illuminating her hair beautifully. When setting its position, I ensured it was just low enough to spill catchlights – those small white reflections – in both of her eyes. You can see them clearly in the finished portrait, and they make such a difference to the life in her expression.
Shaping Darker Skin With Highlights
When photographing people with light skin, you create a sense of shape and depth to their features using shadow. With dark-skinned subjects, that shape and depth is created through the use of highlights. The mask of Symone’s face – the central oval containing her features – is in highlight, together with selected areas of her chest and shoulder. It’s a subtle but important distinction, and one that’s worth really thinking about before you start placing your lights.
This is where reflector use in photography earns its keep. I’m bouncing a little fill light back in on the far side of the soft box, using a large reflector to the right of Symone. It’s set slightly back and angled towards the camera. Without it, Symone’s neck and back would be completely dark and merge into the background. The reflector ensures there’s just enough light to stop that happening – it’s a gentle nudge rather than a second light source, and that’s exactly what you want from it.
My camera is level with Symone’s neck – slightly below her face but above her chest – and held horizontal, so not angled up towards her. I’ve always loved this camera position, so you’ll…