You can create stunning portraits with just a single light, but once you have mastered that, moving into more complex multi-light setups will open up your creative opportunities even more. If you would like to try a challenging but rewarding portrait lighting setup, check out this great video tutorial that will show you a dramatic image shot using a four separate lights.
Coming to you from John Gress, this awesome video tutorial will show you how to shoot a dramatic four-light portrait using hard light. As you will notice, Gress initially creates this as a two-light setup, using a parabolic reflector and optical snoot with a palm tree gobo. It is a great idea to start off these more complex setups by establishing the main lights first, as Gress does here with the key light and background. Once you have these dialed in, it is easier to add more supplementary sources like the hair light and kicker without drastically affecting the scene.
It's great to see an advanced tutorial on hard light. We often strive quite significantly to achieve nice, soft light, as it is generally more flattering on subjects' features, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place for hard light. Hard light can reveal textures, create deep contrast, and add a sense of drama that soft light can't, making it great for many applications.
Check out the video above for the full rundown from Gress.
