both lighter and darker skin tones—setups that look good to you—while forc-
ing you to get into a habit of adjusting your lighting for each client and each
pose.
The reason we only use the main light, and then main light with fill, is to get
back to the basic lighting structure. We don’t want additional light sources to
mask over what is fundamentally bad lighting. The marks on your floor will also
help you achieve a similar lighting effect for the desired outcomes during the
pressure of a paying session, helping you execute setups that you might forget
if you were winging it. (Note:If you take a peek at floors in some of the
overview shots that appear in this book, you’ll notice I don’t have tape on my
floors. After twenty years, you can peel your tape off, too!)
Consider Unique Sources.
Light doesn’t change, only the characteristics of lighting change. The same
principles of lighting apply to every style of light we will discuss. While the softer
light creates a good standard lighting look for general portraits, there are many
other choices that provide a unique look in the final portrait.
Parabolics.Parabolic lighting has been used for years by many of the great
old photographers, like the late Don Blair. Parabolics are large reflector dishes,
In this parabolic lighting setup, you can see a softbox used below the subject for an extra
pop of light.