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