When you look at the work of professional portrait photographers, you might think that you need complex multi-light setups in order to produce top-level images. And while it is true that two- or three- light setups are common, you might be surprised by what you can accomplish with just a single light. This great video tutorial will show you three easy and creative one-light portrait photography setups.
Coming to you from Brandon Woelfel, this excellent video tutorial demonstrates three effective and interesting one-light portrait photography setups. If you are just starting out with artificial light, it is actually a better idea to stick to a single source until you have built up confidence in your capabilities. There are many properties of light that are crucial to master in order to take full technical and creative control of your images (things like source size and fall-off), and starting with a single light will allow you to more easily build an intuitive knowledge of those properties, making it easier to assuredly move to more complex setups later on. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Woelfel.
If you would like to continue learning about how to light a portrait, be sure to check out "Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!"
