When you are new to working with artificial lighting, it can all seem a bit overwhelming and foreign, but it does not have to remain mysterious forever. This excellent video tutorial will teach you a clean three-light setup that you can use for commercial portraits and more.
Coming to you from Ian Spanier with Westcott Lighting, this excellent video features him discussing how he builds a three-light setup using FJ400 strobes. If you are new to artificial lighting, I highly recommend starting out with one light first to get a feel for how the fundamental parameters affect the output, but if you are ready to jump into multi-light setups, this is a great place to start. What I really appreciated about Spanier's approach is how he methodically talks through how each decision is affecting his shot and what he can adjust to bring things closer to his creative vision. You might notice that as you get into these more intricate setups, it is not just about shaping the light on your subject, but also precisely controlling the direction and spill of each light so as to not contaminate the rest of the frame, which is something that is easy to overlook. Check out the video above to see how Spanier gets it done.
