Learn Six Soft Light Setups for Portraiture and Beauty

Artificial lighting is one of the best tools a photographer can learn to implement in his work. It’s not something we have to use and rely on all the time, but knowing it’s there and not being afraid of it is always best. When working in a studio for portrait and beauty photography, it can become a necessity depending on the natural light you have and the looks you shoot. In this short behind the scenes, Rossella Vanon shows how she created six different lighting setups that keep a consistent feeling. Take this opportunity to learn new lighting setups and understand her thought process when building a set.

The shoot presented in the video above is a beauty editorial with six different makeup looks. Each of them is being lit differently, but despite this fact, they all work with each other because Vanon managed to keep the quality of light relatively similar. She used a wide variety of light shapers and number of light sources, but the goal was to mimick the light and feel of the first setup for the following ones. As she explains, she planned everything ahead of the shoot and then took her time to test on the day of, making sure everything worked perfectly.

If you want to learn more about the process or see a detailed lighting diagram of each setup along with sample pictures, be sure to read the full article Vanon wrote for Profoto.