Learn How to Create This Fantastic Portrait With Just One Light

A lot of more advanced portrait styles require the use of multiple lights to fully craft the images, but you might be surprised by how much you can still accomplish with just a single light. This great video tutorial will show you how to light and shoot this eye-catching black and white portrait using only a single strobe.

Coming to you from Lindsay Adler Photography, this fantastic video tutorial will guide you through the process of lighting and shooting this one-light black and white portrait. It is an especially great image to try if you are stuck at home right now, as it requires minimal equipment (just a single bare bulb). Along with the single light, Adler used a 5D Mark IV and a 70-200mm lens. I personally think that if you are new to artificial lighting, starting out with a single light and a relatively simply modifier (or none at all, like in this case) is best, as you will be best able to experiment with things like light angle and distance to help build an intuitive understanding of things like falloff and hardness. This will help you become better prepared to move on to more complex setups. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Adler. 

If you want to continue learning about lighting, check out "Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!"

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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3 Comments

where is the video?

Hi Paul, it’s right at the top of the article.

You're right if you are using Chrome. But Firefox often doesn't show the video. Might be my settings. Wonder if others are having the same problem. Found this happening with a few videos of FStoppers.