Portraits

Studio shot of Ellina. It's a two light setup. One 60cm x 60cm (2x2 foot) soft box in a hard position, meaning angled behind her right shoulder (camera left).
The soft box becomes a hard box because it's at an angle to her face where only a sliver of light illuminates her faces (making it the brightest part in the picture). This setup creates the rapid / hard falloff on her cheeks, You can see the position of the soft box in their eyes of course. The position creates this unusual but cool catchlight. A second light is positioned behind her shoulders to create a very slight / elegant separation between her shoulder and the background. If you don't know its there you wouldn't notice itit, at least that was the idea. In the end I love her expression, which brings it all together.