One of the greatest tools you have at your disposal for creating mood within a portrait is controlling the contrast through your lighting setups. This excellent video will show you how you can use lighting to control the contrast in portraits and create more dynamic photos.
Coming to you from Daniel Norton with Adorama TV, this great video will show you how you can better control contrast using your lighting. Sure, you can definitely change and shape contrast in post-processing, particularly on a global level, but controlling it locally in a portrait can require a fair dose of dodging and burning, which can be a bit of a tedious process, especially if you are working against the light at all. Getting it right in camera will save you a lot of time in post and will improve your overall lighting skills, as you will learn how to be very precise with angle and placement as well as power ratios. Plus, the closer you get it in camera, the less you will have to push the file in post, which generally maintains the highest possible image quality. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Norton.
