Light is the foundational aspect of photography. This should be obvious but sometimes we get so enmeshed in the subject that we forget how important the light is.

The photo above really brought home for me how much the light can impact the quality of a portrait. Here is a close up of Dani’s face

I think everything about this really pops. The light gives definition to her face and lights up her eyes. The light pulls her out of the background and pulls your eye in. Her face is well lit but has interesting shadows and contrast.

So how did I light her for this picture? Three lights. A light to her left and low with a blue gel. A light to her right with a pink gel placed low to the ground and behind her. Finally a white softbox light almost directly in front of her and slightly higher than her face. The front light was white with a grid to contain any spill (to light her face and body but not the background). The lens was my Canon 50mm f/1.2. The f/1.2 is very nice for focusing in the dark. I shot at f/7.1 and 1/4 second exposure to give some background illumination. The slow shutter was no problem because the flash freezes everything!

See more of this gallery at Dani and Cole in the North Woods

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