Sometimes, the most straightforward approach is the best. Scrub that: the simplest is nearly ALWAYS the best. And if you’ve read more than a handful of the articles on this site, you’ll know it’s something I’ve said over and over and over again.
This image was shot during one of our one-to-one Masterclasses, and we set it up specifically to demonstrate just how simple a high key lighting portrait can be on the technical side – even when there are real subtleties in the styling, the posing, and the finishing.
The whole thing uses just one light: an Elinchrom FIVE with a 100cm square softbox. That’s it. If you have a large studio, that’s probably all you need for a clean, simple studio portrait setup. If, like us, you’re working in a slightly smaller room, then you might want to bring in a negative fill board – sometimes called a subtractor, they go by various names – to stop light bouncing back in from the walls and washing out that beautiful contrast.
The background here is simply our studio back wall, though you could of course use a paper roll or a fabric backdrop. Personally, I love the versatility of a physical wall. It means I can ask Abi to lean against it if I want to, which opens up a whole range of posing options.
Working with a single softbox is wonderfully freeing, but you do need to read the light carefully. The key is adjusting the position of that Elinchrom softbox so it’s illuminating both the subject and the wall behind her at the same time. A gentle touch and a keen eye – that’s really all it takes.
So Why This Approach?
Abi looked absolutely stunning in her white dress, and she has a natural gentleness that works beautifully in front of the camera. I love it when an image has a real harmony to it – the colours and tones all pulling in the same direction. With Abi in white, the white wall felt like an obvious choice, and a single large softbox was always going to create something lovely.
The posing is about as simple as it gets. Abi is standing with her arms by her side – nothing complicated. I positioned her with her back to the light and then asked her to look down and back towards the light stand. This draws the face gently in the direction of the light, illuminating her features beautifully. You can see in the behind-the-scenes shot just how minimal the whole setup really is.
The black subtractor boards add depth and contrast. I could have flipped them around so the white side threw some additional fill light back onto Abi, but I absolutely loved the sculpting that this combination created. That little bit of shadow on the near side gives the image shape and dimension without complicating anything.
Simple, elegant, quick – and as always, that’s a rather wonderful combination.
This kind of high key lighting portrait…