How to light fine art photography portraits | Profoto (FR)

How to light fine art photography portraits

03 octobre, 2021

Écrit par: Profoto and Lindsay Adler

How do you take a fine art portrait that represents your subject’s personality? Fashion photographer Lindsay Adler did exactly that when she created a fine art portrait of her wardrobe stylist Raytell by using broad but sculpted lighting to reflect his personality and skillset. Discover Lindsay’s four steps on how she portrays "the stylist and his muse" and learn this technique for your own fine art portrait photography.

Step 1. Build the scene for your image by setting up a textured grey canvas backdrop. Then add a variety of props, such as vintage apple boxes and a ladder that allow your subjects to interact with their environment.

Step 2. Place an 8x8′ scrim to the left-hand side of your frame, far enough to the left to create sculpted light that gives dimension to the scene. Add a Profoto D2 without any modifiers behind the scrim to illuminate it. This combination creates an extremely soft quality of light to the shot.

Step 3. Position another Profoto D2 and Profoto Umbrella Deep White L with Umbrella Diffuser straight onto the scene to help lift off the shadows. While the placement of the first flash and scrim creates sculpting, this second light source helps to control the tonality (lightness/darkness) of those shadows.

Step 4. Finally, add a V-flat in between the scrim and the background to help control the spill of light in the shot. The V-flat helps to darken the back left-hand side of the background, avoids distraction and brings the eye back to the center of the composition.

Camera settings

  • Camera: Canon R5
  • Lens: Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM
  • Shutter Speed: 1/125
  • Aperture: F11
  • ISO: 200

About
You can find the full making of this image and many more in Lindsay's "Stylized portrait" episode of her monthly subscription platform Learn+.

Écrit par: Profoto and Lindsay Adler

Produits utilisés dans cet article

Profoto D2

Le monobloc avec TTL le plus rapide au monde
À partir de 2 529,00 €

Umbrella Deep White

Un parapluie polyvalent et zoomable pour une lumière plus douce.
À partir de 224,00 €

Umbrella Diffuser

Convertit votre parapluie White ou Silver en boîte à lumière.
À partir de 54,00 €

Air Remote TTL

Connecte sans fil votre éclairage AirTTL avec votre appareil photo
À partir de 249,00 €