One thing that often discourages photographers from beginning to learn how to work with artificial light is the mistaken idea that it takes complex multi-light setups to create great portraits. In actuality, you can create professional-level portraits with even only a single light, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how to do just that using a holiday theme as an example.
Coming to you from Lindsay Adler Photography, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to light and shoot a festive single-light portrait. If you are newer to working with artificial light, I truly believe it is best to start out with a single light. A lot of photographers try to jump right in with two or three lights and often end up frustrated. With a single light, you can build an intuitive grasp of all the fundamental parameters of light, such as relative source size and its affect of the quality of the light, and just as importantly, you can learn how to dial them in to get the look you want. Without the added complexity of extra lights, the causal relationship between these things is much clearer and will set you up for more success when you move on to more involved setups. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Adler.
