Learn How to Shoot and Edit This Fantastic One-Light Portrait

A lot of beauty images use fairly complicated lighting setups, but you might be surprised by the great results you can get from just a single light. This fantastic video will show you the process behind lighting, shooting, and editing a single-light beauty setup.

Coming to you from Lindsay Adler Photography, this excellent video will show you the process behind shooting and editing a one-light beauty portrait. For the lighting, Adler uses a Profoto white umbrella with diffusion to create a nice, soft light, along with a reflector underneath to reduce the shadows created by the light's relatively high position above the subject. The relatively even lighting created by the large modifier works well for showing off the creative makeup, thus Adler's choice of the simpler setup. When it came time to shoot, she opted for the Canon 5D Mark IV and EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens for really bringing out all the detail. Finally, once in post, she focused mostly on the colors, creating a clean, straightforward look that made the vivid colors play off each other nicely by pulling saturation out of the skin and adding a healthy dose of contrast. Check out the video above for the full rundown.

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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Hi. Just wondering what is (in your opinion) "fantastic" about this portrait?