37
W
hen it comes
to taking
headshots,
you’ll be
pushed to fi nd someone better
than photographer Chris
Bailey. Based in the town of
Frome in Somerset, Chris has
photographed many actors
and celebrities including
Samantha Womack, Star
Wars actor Alan Harris, David
Warner and Jane Merrow to
name a few. Chris conducts his
practice from his independent
studio, and invited AP along
for the day so he could try
out our Rotolight kit. For this
photo shoot we armed Chris
with three Rotolight lights:
two powerful AEOS lights
and a smaller NEO 2 as well
as accessories.
Modelling for us was
professional actor Theo
Walker, who at the young age
of 22 is just starting out in the
industry. His aim from the
shoot was to come away with
approachable headshots that
would reveal his likeable and
easy to work with manner, as
well as show his versatile look.
At the photo shoot, Chris
used the Rotolights on the
continuous light LED setting;
they were plugged into the
mains so we didn’t need to
worry about battery life.However if we were out on
location the AEOS on full
blast is capable of lasting up
to two hours, making it
extremely versatile.
The AEOS and NEO 2 are
both easy to use and have two
simple dials on the back panel.
One is to adjust the power
output of the light that is
measured on a percentage
scale and the other alters the
colour temperature of the
lights in degrees Kelvin.
Depending on whether Chris
wanted to have a cool, neutral
look or a warmer look to his
images, he could creatively
decide and also mixed the
colour temperatures together.
With his camera as a
starting point for each set-up,
Chris would set the main key
light to a daylight balance
(5,600K), and then get Theo
to hold a grey card to set a
custom white balance on his
camera. Chris shoots in
manual mode with his shutter
setting at 1/250sec, and his
aperture varying between f/4
and f/6.3 to ensure Theo’s
main facial features remain
sharp. Chris mostly has his
ISO set around 800-1000. In
total we had three lighting
set-ups that all portrayed
Theo’s character and
personality diff erently.Chris Bailey
Chris Bailey is a professional portrait photographer
based in south west England. Chris loves both the
technical and visual challenge of capturing people,
as every face is unique. Check out his portfolio of
work at http://www.chrisbaileyphotography.co.uk.ALL PICTURES © CHRIS BAILEY
A head for
headshots
We visit the studio of professional
portrait photographer Chris Bailey
to see how he shoots headshots using
Rotolight’s AEOS and NEO 2 LEDs
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
CHRIS’S TOP TIPS
Block the light
To make the shadows darker and
more refi ned Chris placed a piece
of black card over to the right
hand side of Theo’s face. This was
simply pegged to a stand that
could be swung in and removed
when needed. The black card
absorbs the light and thus creates
darker shadows on one side.Refl ect the light
A refl ector is a handy piece of
kit in the studio to bounce subtle
light back in the shadows and lift
detail. As there was no assistant
to hand, Chris asked Theo to hold
it in place. Theo’s instinct was to
grab each side, but this made his
shoulders wider. Chris asked
Theo to hold the refl ector like
a pizza instead, which kept his
body in a more natural pose.