Studio Portraits With One Light Or Flash

Studio Portraits With One Light Or Flash

By William Lulow

Whenever there isn’t enough light present to make a picture, the flash on your camera will probably pop up so that you will have enough to make a “proper” exposure. Isn’t this great? If there isn’t enough light, light gets added automatically! What could be better? The problem comes with the kind of light these pop up flashes provide. If your unit is attached to your camera, it is called an “on-camera” or “built-in” flash. And, although it will usually light the scene in front of the camera, the light it makes is:

• Harsh
• Direct
• Specular
• Comes from camera position
• Doesn’t light the background
• Usually is not strong enough for specialized uses

What makes the light harsh?

1. It is aimed directly at your subject
2. It is of very short duration
3. It casts harsh shadows on every other part of the subject

What makes it direct?

1. It is coming from the camera position
2. It is not changeable
3. It produces a very flat type of light which simply lights the subject

 What makes it specular?

1. The flash on the camera is usually quite small compared to the subject
2. It acts as a “point” light source
3. It causes bad reflections on shiny objects and even on people’s face
4. It will cause “red eye” which is really the reflection of the retina in a person’s eye because the flash point is so close to the axis of the lens itself

Why doesn’t an “on camera” flash light the background?

1. Since it is attached to the camera, the strength of the flash will only go as far as the subject
2. Backgrounds will be black because the flash only measures lamp-to-subject distance
3. Even automatic flash units will only measure lamp-to-subject distance.

So, as your photographic expertise grows, you will want to do away with most on-camera flash situations in favor of using off-camera flash setups.

Most camera manufacturers make flash units that can be used off-camera. They can be connected to the camera with a special wire or wirelessly. There are specialized brackets which take the flash off the lens axis and elevate it to approximate a “Hollywood” type light. This eliminates red-eye and gives the subject a more overall light. It is still harsh in nature, but at least it is coming from a different direction. The thing to strive for is to have a flash unit that is attached to a light stand that you can move around to create different types of lightings and moods. One of the problems with these “speedlights” even if they are attached to light stands, is that they cannot be aimed down. They can be aimed directly at a subject and also aimed up at several angles including directly at the ceiling. So, they are limited in the kind of light they can provide. You would need to invest in more of a studio-type speedlight that can be aimed in almost any direction.

The speedlights I like have a larger reflector on them but still cannot be aimed down effectively. They are Sunpak 120J units like the one below. They are a bit older, but work very well with my system:

There are others as well, like the Quantum Series of speedlights:

Then, there are still others that are a bit more professional quality like the Dynalite Baja units:

These are really good units that are also called “monolights” because they are battery-powered and require no wires or electric plug in. They can be set up in any position on a light stand. One that’s becoming a “high end” light these days is the Profoto monolight:

These are expensive, but easy to use and set up. There are less expensive versions of this light on the market as well. One produced in China called Godox, one made for Adorama Camera in NYC and Westcott makes one as well. I have looked at all of them and if I had to replace all my lights today, I would probably go with the Westcott.

This is one of Westcott’s smaller monolights, but they are reasonably priced (400w/s for about $600), so it is possible to obtain a few of them for the same price as ONE Profoto model. One of the best things about these lights is that they don’t require any cords to be connected to the grid. They can operate on battery power. That really cleans up your workplace.

So, once you have chosen which studio flash system or just plain hot lights you wish to use, you can then begin to position them as per the diagrams in these articles and experiment with the kinds of effects you get. That is basically how I began and through a lot of study and experimentation you can arrive at a number of different lighting setups that can be very creative.

With all this said, here are some setups you can use to achieve dramatic results with just one light:

This is an example of a HOLLYWOOD LIGHT. It is the most fundamental way to use a single light setup. It is obtained by placing the light near the camera but up fairly high. This an example produced by this lighting:

The setup for this kind of lighting is as follows: (the mainlight was bounced into a large umbrella).

This is the correct position of the light except it would be aimed into an umbrella or otherwise diffused. Here are a couple of other lightings you can effect with just one light:

Side Light:

Rembrandt Light:

There are many things you can do with just one light. You need to learn how to apply it correctly. I have shown a couple of easy, one-light setups here. You can experiment with them and see what kinds of effects you can produce.