This image is a PPA International award-winning Loan Print where I’ve applied my technique of creating three-dimensional lighting to studio photography. We as portrait artists have the unique challenge of capturing three-dimensional realism in a two-dimensional medium. Because we are not sculptors cutting marble, the only way we can create that realism is by sculpting with shadows. So, why is it that so many studio photographers today destroy their shadows, and what mistakes lead to that outcome?
• Fill lights: Many photographers use fill lights unnecessarily. Historically, fill lights were useful back when studio photographers had only small intense hot lights in parabolic reflectors. The light was so hard and the shadows so deep that a fill light was needed to balance out their ratios and open up the shadows. Modern lights and lighting modifiers have eliminated this problem, but the tradition continues due to a lack of understanding of the original purpose.
• Flat lighting: Flat lighting erases the three-dimensionality of the subject by eliminating natural shadows that provide three-dimensional visual cues. This frequently occurs when photographers use two main lights placed equidistant from the subject at 45°. This kind of balanced lighting is really only good for photographing flat art or a stamp collection.
• Using rings lights in portraiture: Ring lights were originally developed for dental photography and were used by high fashion photographers to deliberately create unusual lighting conditions to draw the eye. Unfortunately, portraiture does not merely need to draw the eye, but must represent the subject in a flattering way that showcases their humanity.
I haven’t used a fill light in the studio in decades. I realized that they sabotaged the artistic quality of my lighting, and I intensely disliked the extra catch lights they created in my subjects’ eyes. So, to eliminate my fill, I started increasing the size of my main soft box. Fifteen years ago, I bought a 7-foot octodome and have loved it! I could finally photograph groups without needing a fill light, and the quality of light is beautiful.
I always bring my 7-foot main in as close as I can on one side of the subject and use a white reflector on the other side. The trick is to feather the main towards the reflector to control the amount of light returned to the subject. This evens out the exposure across the group, while preventing flat lighting. Aside from the main, the only other lights used in this image were two gridded background lights and a soft box overhead as a hair light.