23: 27-Jun-2016

This week it’s a portrait shoot, so how about some classic flash setups for that purpose? I helped Alberto out at a fashion shoot the other day and thought I’d read up on some lighting methods with flash. In that process I found a series of articles on the Sekonic website (they make light meters).

One excellent article covers the 5 basic lighting setups for portraits Paramount Lighting, Loop Lighting, Rembrandt Lighting, Split Lighting and Profile Lighting – with diagrams! It’s a strongly recommended read. There are plenty more on their website – like this one on making devilish shadows!
If you want some interesting lighting ideas, check out Strobox – lots of images, lots of categories, and the lighting setups they’ve used.

Finally, a couple of photo essays to look at. Firstly, from the Magnum stable (Magnum is a high powered photography agency – with founding members including George Rodger, Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Capa) this series of images will inspire you to seek the decisive moment

Then, if you still like the idea of B&W and street photography, this article in the Photo Argus about urban photographer Thorsten Koch may just give you that boost to explore more