The Two-Speedlight Character Portrait
I’M GOING TO TRY TO EXPLAIN THIS as quickly as I shot it.
Here we go:
1. Put your subject in a chair, and back off with your lens. You don’t have to put them in a chair if you don’t want to. I just find it handy while I’m framing up a shot. It means they don’t wander around, and I have a constant point of reference. They’re also at least somewhat comfortable while I do all my plus and minus shenanigans. I can always lose the chair once I’m set.
2. Put two lights on sticks: one to camera left for the subject’s face, and the other to camera right and slightly behind him for rim-light purposes. Take off the dome diffusers and zoom them to 200mm. Strap a Honl Speed Gobo to the camera side of that rim light so ...
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