I keep trying to find new ways to wrap light around my models.  When it’s properly thought out and tested, light that wraps around a subject creates a different look, a dimensionality that one is unable to get by other methods.

For this portfolio shoot, I began with my three light key.  I wrote about this in a ShootSmarter.com article some months ago, but, for those of you who may not have seen it, the three light key is three separate lights and umbrellas, set in a semi-circle above and to the sides of the model, overlapping slightly.  Putting the center light on a boom allows me to shoot through the umbrellas without having to deal with another stand. 

The model is positioned about five feet from the lights, all of which are powered to the same f-stop.  I’ve found five to six feet to be the optimum distance for a single model because the light will flatten out with more distance.  This is what it looks like from the model’s perspective.  Please log in or sign up for a free Silver Account to access the rest of this articles and others