Here’s the result!

A lot of photography books/resources that I’ve read talk about how important light is to a photograph. Understandable, really, seeing as a photograph cannot exist without light. That said, a common error made by studio newbies (I have been guilty of it myself) involves using too much light. In other words: Where are the shadows?

Below are two photos that I took of the talented Jessica. In the first photo I lit Jess with a large softbox from [slightly] camera right and used an umbrella on another light (left of camera) to help light the background. In the second photo I lit her with a bare bulb (except for some flagging to stop flare) that was located directly where she’s looking and elevated a little.

As you can see, the flat front-lighting produced an unflattering portrait and is utterly boring. Meanwhile, the side-lit photo brings out Jess’ cheekbones, gives her arms definition, and creates natural contrast (not Photoshop contrast!) that exists because of the shadow present in the picture.

Long story short: if you front-light then that light will reflect back off your subject and onto your film/sensor… you won’t get a great deal of shadow. Have a look at your favourite photographs – there is definitely light there, but consider how much shadow there is and how that shadow was achieved.