Creating Edgy Fashion Lighting

Lately, I have been loving an edgier look to light and images I have seen in a few other photographers' works. As I mainly shoot beauty, I don't really get to light like that very often, but I wanted to give it a go myself and try some edgier and harder looking light.

So I grabbed a model from my local model agency and my MUA, and we had a bit of fun trying out this lighting style. For this shoot, I used a two-light setup: a large octabox as my main light above the model and a beauty dish as a fill. If you would prefer to have a bit more light on the front of the model, besides your fill light, you can always move the octabox more in front of your subject and turn it towards them. Play around with it and see which look you ultimately prefer. I wanted some harder shadows, so I did it this way.

I filmed a BTS of this shoot to show you how it was lit, my setup, and a bit of my quirk!  I hope you enjoy it and try it out for yourself if you haven't already.

Here are some of the images.

Equipment Used

  • Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
  • Lighting: Two Profoto D1 500 Air's
  • Modifiers: Profoto Beauty Dish and a 5-foot Octa
  • Gray Backdrop

Model: Sara (Heartbreak) | MUA: Jacqueline Kroon

Dana Cole's picture

Dana Cole is a beauty and portrait photographer and retoucher who resides in Oslo, Norway.

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28 Comments

excellent BTS Dana, I use a similar setup and love the results especially moving the top light back and forth to get a different affect. Thanks for sharing.
On a different note why or what drove you to move to Oslo? I do plan to visit the area in the next year if all goes great because i want to do a shoot up that way on my world tour.

Thank you Jon 😀
What brought me to Oslo? loveeee .. teehee. I do feel however, it was a great career move as well, but it was not the main factor of me moving here.

If you find yourself in the area, let me know !
Coffee or lunch on me 😀

same reason that took me from Hollywood to Perth, Western Australia.

Whewwww way down under teehee. Looks like we both went the distance. haha

Excellent work! I like all of them but I really like the first one (at the top)

Dana, you be Rockin' :-)

thank you Curtis 😃😃😘

You are very welcome, You deserve it. 😘🙂😁

Excellent <3

thank you Miss Emily ❤️❤️

Hiya Dan, thank you.. Maybe I should have said editorial..hmm. but yeah I would more so use this type of lighting in that way, than for a clothing designer.

Well seen, great work as always Dana. Love the edgy B/W.

Thank you Jo :D

Thanks Dana!

thank you Dwight :D

Love this Lighting!!

Thank you Dani !!

Love it Dana!

Thank you Shavonne :D

awesome BTS, Thanks for sharing! would love to see more like this!

Thanks Kevin, I plan to do a few more BTS of different setups and will happily share them here on F-Stoppers as well !!

Wonderful BTS video and great work!!

Thank you Christian 😀

Wow, brilliant and simple setup and amazing results. Love this set, thank you for sharing. Looks like I have some new things to try this weened!

glad to hear you enjoyed it Joshua :)
Have fun with it !!

Great photos and lighting! :)

thank you Daniel :)