The last few days, and the next eight days, I am taking portraits at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. Family portraits.
To do this, my colleague Paolo and I use this simple setup:
Two strobes in umbrellas, and a backdrop. That is it!
So you need a camera plus:
- Two monolights, 45 degrees off to the side, high
- Two stands and two umbrellas
- A light meter
- A backdrop
- A way to connect the camera to the lights: perhaps pocketwizards, but a cable will do.
That is all. And every picture is reliable. Like this:
More tips:
- People skills and compositional insight both help greatly.
- Positioning (not “posing”) is the most important thing.
- “Straight on” poses are not normally pleasing.
- Telling people to “Smile!” is not a guarantee for nice photos
The moral of this post: simple light, two umbrellas, can do very well in giving you reliable images.
Simple setup with amazing results.
Cheers
Steve Masters.