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Other Lessons

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Basic Portrait Indoors

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Basic Product Shot

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Basic Product Up-Close

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Glamour Shot
with the HalfDome2

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Olympus C-740:
Depth of Field Portrait

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Olympus C-750:
Basic Start-Up

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Olympus D-560:
White Balance Indoors

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Olympus E-1:
Basic Start-Up

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Olympus E-1:
A Closer Look

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Panoramic

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Resolution

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Shooting a Basic Headshot

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Techniques for Shooting Jewelry

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Two-Dimensional Artwork

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Simple Tricks for Consistent Portrait Lighting

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Soft Lights for Dramatic Results

In the lesson, we will illustrate a very common lighting approach used by professional fashion photographers called "clamshell" lighting. "Clamshell" lighting is popular because it typically renders a flattering 1:1 lighting ratio, particularly with women. If you look through any fashion magazine, you will find several examples of this type of lighting in hair and make-up ads, as well as many others.

For this lesson, we scheduled a photo-shoot with a local model to create a classic "clamshell" head and shoulders shot.

(Click on any image below for an enlarged view.)

Before our model arrived, we prepped the set by hanging a roll of white seamless background and set up the lighting equipment that would create the "clamshell" lighting solution. As with all photo-shoots, preparation is key to a successful shoot. When either you or your clients are paying for model time, you will want to have everything prepared ahead of time so that when the model is on the set, you can concentrate solely on your lighting and shooting.

Once our model arrived at the studio, we spent a few minutes looking at her wardrobe. After we selected the clothes we wanted to use, our hair and make-up artist brought her to the back room to get her ready, while we returned to the set to get our lighting gear in position. For our first shot, we set up a Medium SilverDome softbox, attached a Starlite head with a 1000-watt lamp, and mounted it onto a Boom and Boom Stand. We then positioned the softbox so that it would top-light the model at a 45-degree angle. This set-up would serve as our "main" light.

Next we mounted an Olympus E-20N digital camera to a sturdy tripod in a vertical position and made some adjustments to the camera. We set the Exposure and Focus modes to Manual, set the ISO to its lowest setting (80), set the Resolution to SHQ, and finally created a Custom White Balance setting to match the color temperature of the Starlite Lamp (3200 K).

Once the model was ready, we had her sit on a chair on the set, framed up the shot, manually focused on her eyes and took our first exposure (figures 1 & 2).

From our results shot, we can see that our main light has rendered our model very naturally, revealing her beauty. However, our lighting ratio is technically closer to what photographers would deem a "3:1 lighting ratio", where the shadows are two stops darker than the highlights. A 3:1 lighting ratio isn't considered a "bad" ratio, and in fact we could stop at this point and have a very flattering shot.

In this situation, however, we wanted to take the shot a step farther by placing a MulitDisc Kit under the camera and angling it up at a 45-degree angle to bounce some of the fall-off from the main light into the shadows of our model's face. Without any changes to the camera, we took another shot (figures 3 & 4).

The result shot illustrates a significant improvement over the first example, as the MultiDisc has helped to lighten the shadows under the model's eyes. Our ratio has dropped to about 2:1, and again, we could stop now and have a very nice shot with healthy skin tones, bright eyes and a great smile. But instead, we decided to explore some further lighting set-ups.

To increase the fill light even more, we replaced the MultiDisc with a HalfDome2 softbox with a Starlite head and 1000-watt lamp attached, mounted to a Background Stand. We positioned this light to the same angle as the MultiDisc set-up so that it was just out of the frame of the camera. Without any other changes to the camera, we took another shot (figures 5 & 6).

The result shot shows that we have achieved our goal of the 1:1 ratio. And even though the lighting might be deemed "flat", or low in contrast, the model's face is still rendered with good sense of dimension.

Now that the face had been lit to our satisfaction, we wanted to add one more light for the final touch. We brought in another HalfDome2 Kit (this time a Medium-sized Kit) to use as a hair light and to create a separation between the hair and the background. We set the HalfDome2 kit on another Boom and positioned it just behind the model's head. We then rotated it toward the model about 20-25 degrees. Once everything was in place, we took a final shot (figures 7 & 8).

The HalfDome2 helps to bring the shot to the next level, separating our model form the background and giving her hair and shoulders some nice highlights. This lighting solution can be used in any portrait situation. It is very simple to set up and delivers great results every time.