Issue 01 - Good Light!

Mag - The New Way of Portrait Photography

Issue 01 - Good Light! Mag - The New Way of Portrait Photography

Why Off
Camera is
Spot On
BASICS.
Interview with
Ed Verosky

DIY:
Bubblewrap
Softening
Filter

Lens hood and bubblewrap: a match made in

heaven

5 Questions
for Jacques Rattaz

GoodLightMag.com

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light

with One Bare Speedlight
Building a perfect light sphere in your closet

Published by

by Zelbel Ltd & Co.KG, all rights reserved

Contents
FEATURES
Why Off Camera is
Spot On

Positioning your speedlight

makes all the difference
By OLEG STARKO

Basics.

Interview with Ed Verosky

By MICHAEL ZELBEL

DIY Bubblewrap
Softening Filter

Lens hood and bubblewrap:

a match made in heaven
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

5 Quesions for
Jacques Rattaz

Interview with a boudoir

photography tutor
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Ultra-Soft Beauty
Light with One Bare
Speedlight
Building a perfect light
sphere in your closet
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Download Free
Movie Poster
Template
One sure-fire way to make your photography work stand out
and attract attention is to display it in a unique manner that
demonstrates clearly just how creative and inspired you are. It
will be especially effective if its the happy client or model that
proudly does the displaying.
To make the heroine of your most recent photo shoot even
more delighted with the pictures you have created, you can
go an extra mile and drop your best photo of her into this slick
movie poster template.
Next, fill it in with the models name, your name and your
website address and dont forget to credit other people who
helped in your photo shoot. As a final step, save it as a JPG
and either enclose it with the other pictures from the shoot or
post it on the models Facebook page. Let the word of mouth
do the rest her friends will hardly resist the temptation to
oooh and aaah over this awesome-looking poster!
To top it off, you could print it out in high resolution and use
it as an eye-catcher in your studio it would double as an unusual piece of decoration and an advertisement for your skills!
The template is available for instant download (in PSD format,
to edit in Photoshop and compatible software) for the low, low
cost of nothing whatsoever all you need to do is sign up
for our newsletter Photography Talk. It is chock-full of excellent advice on photography. No spam we hate it as much as
you do. No obligations you can unsubscribe with one click at
any time.
You want it, dont you? Then click here to grab the template
right now:

Photography Talk
And may your new elegant movie poster make your models
happy!
Tip: you can make another, more light-hearted version of the template
by simply inverting the background of the poster from black to white. It
looks like a dream for wedding photos!

Oleg Starko

Why Off Camera is Spot On

5

Why Off Camera

is Spot On
By OLEG STARKO

Positioning your speedlight makes all the difference

In beauty photography, lighting up your model for a perfect shot is a lot like dealing with a charging bull... meaning you dont want to do this head on. In bullfighting, you would end up impaled on the horns of an angry bovine; in beauty
photography, you would produce a flat, uninteresting and cheap-looking image.
Even if you dont want to make an impression of ridiculously high production
values (though why wouldnt you?), a tasteful photo is, in many ways, all about
depth visual, meaningful or sensual. And somehow a bland, boring picture with
chiseled shadows created with a frontal flash just fails to convey all of the above.

Why Off Camera is Spot On

6

The lesson here is simple and

straightforward unhook that flash
from your camera and mount it
on a lightstand somewhere more
appropriate: to the left, right or above
your point of view. A minor modification
like this can make a world of difference
in the resulting photos.
Using a white shoot-through umbrella
and a lightstand is more than enough
to make your images considerably
more sophisticated. You will have more
creative control in terms of positioning
your light sources and adjusting the
intensity of the flash.
You might ask, Just how many creative
options are we talking here? Well, it

only depends on your imagination! Let

me demonstrate just a few ways of
enhancing your photographs with an
off flash. As Ive already said, you
will need the following:
Essential
- a lightstand;
- a mounted camera flash;
- a shoot-through umbrella (to soften
the light from the flash);
- a sprinkle of imagination.

A flash to the face is

boring and unflattering;
especially due to hard
shadows under the nose
and the chin.

Why Off Camera is Spot On

7

Optional
- a reflector (if you want to minimize
shadows).
Now lets mess around with our
high-tech equipment and see what
happens!

Option 0. Bland and Boring 101

dark outline to the right of the model,

because the flash went off to the left
of the lens. In short, its still a far cry
from what a beauty photo should be.
Instead of rage-quitting on this whole
shooting business and going out for a
beer or two, we should ask ourselves
what can we do to make our next
image look better?

Lets say you want to do some portrait

photography. You have a decent 50 mm
prime lens, a good speedlight mounted
on your camera nothing stands
between you and all of those awesome
pictures! So you take a quick shot and
see what happens. The results are
strangely underwhelming, arent they?
Hard shadows under the models nose
and chin are off-putting, and the flash
from the speedlight flattens everything
out like a steamroller. Shooting like this
is a slackers way out, we say! Moving
on!

Option 1. From the Left

Still undiscouraged, we recall that
vertical portraits are a staple format
in the majority of fashion magazines,
where pretty ladies and tasteful clothing
are abundant, and harsh shadows
are virtually unheard of. Eureka, we
say, and turn the camera 90 degrees
indeed, this might solve things!
This time the end result is somewhat
ambivalent, which means that theres
good news and bad news. The good
news we no longer have to deal with
shadows under the chin and the nose.
The bad news theres a hideous

A 90-degree turn of the camera: the light now

comes from the left of the lens. Marginally
better, but still not what we want.

Why Off Camera is Spot On

8

Option 2. Soft Light from Above

Time to get serious: lets grab that
umbrella and combine it with the
flash, McGuyver-style! We will get
an awesome yet practical beauty
photography device that is dirt-cheap
and very effective. Once we pimp our
flash in this way, it will stop creating
such chiseled shadows.
But before we do that, the first priority
should be to break up the odd couple
of the DSLR and the speedlight by
placing the latter on the lightstand and
positioning it approximately 30 inches
above the camera. This will enable us
to add a shoot-through umbrella to the
combo and make the lighting angle
more flattering and pleasant to the
eye.

we learned that introducing a couple

of slight changes to the lighting setup
and the models position makes for
much cooler photos! You can easily
shoot pictures that are on par with
some fashion photography images
out there! Afterwards, all you need
is a little post-production, and your
photographs wouldnt look out of place
in a magazine!
To conclude our little inquiry in off
camera flashes and to provide you
with some metaphorical icing on the
cake We want to show you another
cool trick that will help you out on a
gloomy day outside.

These are very simple and subtle

modifications, but believe us when we
say that they make a world of difference
compared to the previous pictures!
Everything works like a charm the
light is soft and soothing now, and we
are slowly but surely approaching a
fashion photography standard!
Still, we dont reall ylike the way the
models shadow looks stuck to the
wall. Maybe if she stepped forward just
a little, then the shade would subside
and become less distracting?
Indeed, it would! We thought as much.
So, lets summarize: our starting point
was a mediocre and cheap-looking
technique for shooting portraits with
a standard on-camera flash; however,

Mounting the flash on a lightstand and

adding a shoot-through umbrella cures hard
shadows. However, they are still too visible.

Oftentimes, if a model takes

just a couple of steps forward,
background shadows become
a non-issue.

Why Off Camera is Spot On

9

Why Off
is Spot
Its a gloomy
dayCamera
outside!
The On
flash is 3 feet behind the model, 10
mimicking intense sunlight.

Why Off Camera is Spot On

11

Option 3. Who Needs Sun

Anyway?
When taking pictures outside, you
neednt be at the mercy of unreliable
weather. If you planned on-location
shoot is jeopardized by an overcast
sky, you can easily use your flash to
imitate direct sunlight. Thats right,
you can successfully fake the Sun!
All you need to do is simply place the
speedlight 3 feet behind the model,
so it would emit the light right into
the lens.
Its definitely not the most subtle trick
in the book, but it will do when you
require a bright outdoor shot. Whatever the weather, you dont have to
walk away tfrom your next on-location shoot empty-handed!
As much as you are tempted sometimes to mount your flash on the
camera and never give it a second
thought during the shoot, it is much
more beneficial to experiment with
positioning your light source at different angles, distances and heights
from the model.
Just because the flash is your only
means of creating a lighting setup
doesnt mean you can go down the
path of least resistance and restrain
your creativity. We hope Ive managed to prove as much to you today!

Model:
Fredau Hoekstra
Pictures in this article are
100% unretouched just
to give you a clear idea of
how big a difference you can
make with simple manipulations like the ones described
in the article.

Portraying Female Beauty

During Pregnancy
Posing her for charming
pictures with belly
Lighting setups which
work for bump and beauty
Our best photo ideas
from clich to creative

PDF eBook
HERE

Basics
13

Basics.

Interview with Ed Verosky

By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Especially for the first issue of Good Light!

magazine I had the privilege to interview Ed
Verosky, professional New York City-based
photographer and author of best selling
photography eBooks such as 100% Reliable Flash Photography and Taking you
Portraiture to the Next Level, host of the
podcast About Photography and a great
tutor and inspiration to myself. He recently
published a brand new eBook titled DSLR
- The Basics, so I made Basics a topic of
this interview.
[MZ] Michael Zelbel
[EV] Ed Verosky
[MZ] Ed , please let me start off with a job
interview type of question. How well do
you know the tbasics of the DSLR cameras
you are using?
[EV] Thats an interesting question, because youd think my answer would be that
I know all of the functions and features of
my DSLR intimately.
The truth is that Im very familiar with the
controls and settings I use every day, but
not very familiar with those I dont For example, I shoot primarily in Manual mode-both camera and flash--when shooting in-

...when you learn to use

the different features
of your camera you are
able to express yourself
in new ways...

Basics
14

doors. Outdoors, Im usually shooting

in Aperture Priority mode. Other
photographers might use Shutter
Priority or the Auto or Program modes
more frequently.
So, we all know what we know, but
I think its important to get familiar
with the modes and settings we dont
often use. By doing so, we can learn
to shoot in different ways, and we
can have intelligent discussions about
photography with other photographers.
Writing this book forced me to relearn
a lot of the basics and I hope it helps
people like me and beginners alike to
really get to know their cameras.
[MZ] Would you suggest that exploring
the different options of your camera
might foster your creativity?
[EV] Yes, because when you learn to use
the different features of your camera
you are able to express yourself in new
ways. Just like you wouldnt want to be
a writer with a limited vocabulary, you
dont want to be a photographer with
a limited knowledge of your camera.
One of the best examples of this is
learning what your basic exposure
settings are and how to manipulate
them. Once you are able to do that,
you can master your camera. There
are, of course, different ways to control
exposure, but you need to know the
basics, and you need to learn how to
best use your camera controls. Another
good example is using flash; not just
in a point-and-shoot way, but in a way
that allows you to control the exposure
of your subject and their background
independently of each other. Learning

all of these basics will open up new

creative options for you.
[MZ] I too believe, that knowing the
technical options fuels my creativity.
However, what happened to me lately
at a photography convention was, that
someone walked up to me and told me
that my videos might be entertaining,
but that he would not need all this
technical stuff. It would just get in the
way of his creativity. He said that he
would rather setup a perfect scene
in reality and then captures the thing
with his camera on full auto in order
to record an exact image of the scene
he created. I mean, I have an opinion
about this approach. But what would
you say to this photographer?
[EV] Full Auto mode should not be
confused with the idea of capturing
a scene faithfully. Full Auto records a
scene based on a guess the camera
makes for you concerning exposure.
It does not allow the photographer to
make any creative choices concerning
depth of field (how much of the scene
is in focus, or out of focus), shutter
speed (how much movement youre
expressing in the scene), or flash and
other lighting issues. Why wouldnt
you want to be able to control those
things yourself?
I think Full Auto gets in the way of
creativity. The desire to be creative
isnt a good excuse for not learning
how to use your tools. As a matter of
fact, the goal of any artist is to learn
the fundamentals and become so
well versed with their tools that they
can use them without much thought.

Basics
15

Creativity flows when you master

the technical, not when the technical
eludes you.
[MZ]
I
couldnt
agree
more.
Photographers, learn your basics,
take full control and let your creativity
flow! Ed, please tell us a secret. Where
do you get inspiration? How do you
usually fuel up your creative gas tank,
so to speak?
[EV] First, I want to say that its okay if
youre not constantly being inventive.
Youll do something new on occasion
and you can call that art. Youll then
repeat some of what youve learned
by making art, and you can call that
craft. Photographers are not always
supposed to be creative geniuses;
theyre also often expected to produce
repeatable work. They get paid to
know what theyre doing. This is why
knowing your craft is so important;
you are responsible for knowing how
to use your tools. You should know
how and why an image can be created
in a certain way using your camera
settings and lighting. You should be
able to produce even when conditions
arent perfect. So, know what youre
doing, then be open to inspiration.
As for the secret to my creativity and
inspiration, I simply try to be open
to the world around me. Whatever
or whomever has influenced me, as
a person, up to this point is going to
determine why I choose to photograph
something in a certain way. The
inspiration is just the trigger. If a person
or scene inspires me, it means theyve
reminded me of something, probably

on a subconscious level, that I want to

express. Your life is the creative gas
tank. Your openness to new people,
places, and things is your inspiration.
[MZ] Your life is the creative gas tank
- thats a good one. I also love You
repeat what youve learned by making
art, and you can call that craft. So
your new book DSLR - The Basics
is all about taking control of your
camera and get into the craft. I have
read it and for me it is excellent. Its
modern, its all about digital and thats
exactly what we photographers need
nowadays. Nevertheless, let me ask
you a question about your book for
those of our readers who did not yet
have the chance to look at it. When
they read the book and when they
take it to heart, really go through the
review questions at the end of each
chapter, and when they start taking
control of all the described settings and
options, how far does it take them in
terms of shooting technically excellent
images? Would they be able to shoot
at a professional Ed Verosky level
already, or would that be more like a
beginning photographer who finished
their first term at photography school
or anything? What do you think?
[EV] Understanding these concepts
is necessary to becoming a skilled
photographer. You cant skip this stuff;
you need to know it. Once you know
what youre doing, youll be able to
move forward on a solid foundation.
And yes, youll be able to make
technically good images. The next
step will be to learn some advanced
lighting techniques, like working with
portraiture and flash photography. As

Basics
16

you progress, youll learn and develop

new skills and techniques along the
way toward excellence. But if you miss
some of the basic key points about
photography, youll find yourself stuck
and frustrated along the way. I wrote
DSLR: The Basics so you can start
fresh, or fill in the gaps, when it comes
to your understanding of the most
important concepts in working with
a camera and exposure. From there,
your potential with camera is almost
limitless.
[MZ] Excellent. Thank you very much,
Ed.

Ed Verosky is a professional photographer

based in New York City.
He loves to make pictures and he loves to
teach people what he
knows about photography. He is the author of
several eBooks on the
subject and also write occasionally for other photography blogs.

Recommended Reading
DSLR-The Basics,
Ed Verosky

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DIY Bubblewrap Softening Filter

18

By MICHAEL ZELBEL

DIY Bubblewrap
Softening Filter

Lens hood and bubblewrap: a match made in heaven

Gradually, as you shoot more and more various images and tap into different creative techniques, you will end up with a formidable battery of lens filters for every
purpose imaginable: polarizers, warming/cooling filters, neutral density filters and
many others. This is to be expected, because, lets face it, filters are cool!
They can help you put a new spin on an otherwise unremarkable photo and the
best part is, you dont even have to do anything! All you need to do is install it and
then start taking pictures. For artists who dont enjoy post-production or simply
want to add a stroke of novelty to an image this is a godsend and a must-have.
But you know whats even better? Instead of buying a manufactured lens filter,

DIY Bubblewrap Softening Filter

19

The components you need for making a bubblewrap filter. As you can see, the end result boasts a
very uneven hole in the middle.

why not make one yourself? Now,

dont fret Were not going to force
you to blow glass and then coat it in
various substances. You know, it would
probably be hilarious for all of us, but
we can only teach you the things we
know and have tried ourselves.
We want to show you how to make a
super-simple filter out of bubblewrap
that you can put on the lens hood
of your camera and use in beauty
photography shoots. Everyone has
a bit of bubblewrap left over and
even if you enjoy popping it (a pretty
soothing activity, isnt it?), it will still
make a perfectly decent filter!
One. Place a piece of bubblewrap over
and around the lens hood.
Two. Fix it in place with a rubber band.
Three. Cut an odd-shaped hole in the
middle of the wrap. The magnitude
of oddness is up to you the hole
should be fairly large though.
Its pretty much impossible to mess
up, so after step three you should
end up with a perfectly usable

bubblewrap filter. Now its time for

that awkward moment when you look
in bewilderment at the masterpiece
of your making and ask, What do I
need it for again?
Lets see how this nifty little filter can
add to your arsenal of photography
techniques and make your pool of
shooting ideas that much deeper!
With a bubblewrap filter, you can give
those pictures a softer, more romantic
touch, which have a dark background.
Transparent bubblewrap acts as a
really blurry foreground, mimicking
the way sunbeams often bounce
off the glass. In fact, those blurry
dots you see are indeed sunbeams,
caught by the wrap and focused into
the lens. Thats also the reason why
this filter needs a dark background to
be effective: adding a few more light
beams into an already very bright
picuture would make not so much of
a difference.
But what can a few faint beads of
light add to my pictures? you might

The same set with the bubblewrap filter applied. It adds a very blurry foreground, which lends a
somewhat mysterious feel to the picture. Because its nothing but stray light caught in the bubblewrap, it works best with a dark background like this one.

but at the same time feel reluctant to

do. Thats when an innocent trick of
light comes into play.

A super simple artistic set without the bubblewrap filter. It is taken with a 50mm prime
lens at f/5.6, like all photos in this article.

ask. Sometimes an image benefits

from a blurry foreground for instance,
if there is a lot of empty space around
your model that you would like to fill,

Or you may find yourself struggling

to shoot a tender scene, a display
of softness and affection, and
all required is a subtle touch... of
something you dont have. Seriously,
there is nothing remotely romantic
or soft lying around on set, a model
or models cant figure out exactly
what you want, and the background
and lighting alone wont cut it. In this
situation, using a bubblewrap filter
can be a perfectly valid way to add to
the pictures mood.

DIY Bubblewrap Softening Filter

21

This romantic photo could use something to

make it more interesting. Lets apply the bubblewrap filter and see what happens.

As with any other technique that

is meant to enhance photos, dont
overdo it. A filter should be used as a
finishing stroke, a cherry on top of a
solid lighting + composition combo,
just to make things more interesting.
Occasionally it can be used to salvage
otherwise unimpressive images... but
not very often.
Also, it goes without saying that a
bubblewrap filter is, in a way, a lighting
effect so please dont pile it on a photo
that already features a distinctive and
imposing lighting pattern. It will look
out of place in it.
Oleg Starko

In this set, using the bubblewrap filter adds

much-needed softness to the edges of the
image, making it more subtle by driving the
viewers attention away from unnecessary
details and putting primary focus on the
couples facial expressions and poses.
Pictures in this article are
100% unretouched just to
give you a clear idea of how
big a difference you can make
with simple manipulations like
the ones described in the article.
For more tips & tricks sign up
for our free newsletter:
Photography Talk

Find Your Signature Style FASTER!

with Drew Gardner

and Michael Zelbel

Example Video: Put yourself onto the map with the right personal project

Good Light! readers use coupon code

GLMAG25
for 25% OFF!

5 Questions
23

5 Quesions for
Jacques Rattaz

Interview with a
boudoir photography
tutor
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

This is going to be a regular section of our

magazine. Here we are going to feature
upcoming photographers who caught the
attention of our Good Light team and who
sparked our interest. Its about people that
we want to know more about.
The 5 questions of this issue take us to
lovely Switzerland. Living in Geneva,
Jacques Rattaz is working as a fashion
photographer and photography tutor at
ETAP Srl Photography Institute.
We
stumbled
upon
his
website
GlamBoudoir.ch. There we learned that
he is also shooting boudoir and artistic
nudes at a commercial level.

5 Questions
24

We wanted to know more.

[GL] Good Light Magazine
[JR] Jacques Rattaz
[GL] How did you come to photography? How
did you learn the techniques?
[JR] When I was 13 years old, already 37 years
ago, my father gave me its Canon F1 (that
I always own). At the same time, I had the
opportunity to follow, at school, a laboratory
course. All the necessary things were put
together to create a passion!
For the technical point of view... I mainly learnt
by myself, reading monthly magazines, buying

...inspiration is coming from people, so I feel my artistic soul coming out mainly in fashion, portrait, boudoir,
nude, concert and crowded events photography...
some books and practicing a lot, trying to break
the rules, coming back ( when my friends and my
parents were not appreciating my new art). I
also bought a lot of photographers books and,
for each photograph, I always tried to express
what I liked or disliked, even for the pictures of
my favorite photographs (Jean-Loup Sieff, Steve
Mc Curry, Helmut Newton are the main one).
[GL] Why are you into boudoir photography?
What brought you there?
[JR] Im passionate about Human relationship
and light... This means that naturally I prefer
people photography and I am more and more
attracted by studio lighting. I thing that boudoir
and nude photography are the logical light, if
any available, and the effect Im looking for.

5 Questions
25

My favorite modifier is an octabox 150cm. It

offers a lot of possibilities... just try it and play
with the center, the edges, with or without grid,
with or without diffuser, from various angles
or distances... If you have one strobe and you
have the money to buy only one softbox, this is
the one.
[GL] What do you typically do in postproduction?
How much time do you spend on it?
[JR] Once Im back at home after one full
Saturday of shooting... I first kiss my wife...
Then I load my pictures in Lightroom. The next
step is the editing. I generally choose one or
two pictures by series, if the photographs were
done without link together. If they tell a story, of
course the story must be understandable and
the selection is done accordingly.
The retouching process depends on the
precision and quality of the technical setup, the
quality of the skin and the wish of the customer.
sometimes I use only Lightroom and its local
adjustments tools. In this case I need two to
three minutes by picture. But mainly I need to
launch Photoshop with the following steps :
1) skin cleaning with the Spot Healing Brush
or the Patch tools
2) eye, mouth, jewelry, tissues sharpening with
the unsharp mask filter
3) eyes lightening with a layer in Screen mode
and a mask
4) use of the plug-in Portraiture to smoothen
the skin
5) Use of the plug-in Color Efex Pro 4 with
the Pro Contrast filter sometimes mixed with
other
6) Local contrast adjustments with a Soft Light
filled with 50% gray layer painted with Burn
and Dodge tools

5 Questions
26

5 Questions
27

7) if needed Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in to convert

in Black & White. This process take around 5
to 20 minutes by picture depending, as already
said, mainly on the skin retouching needs and
the quality of the light at the shooting time.
Never forget : you will never get a top pictures
from a bad shot! and on top of that, to try to
save your bad shot will cost you a lot of time...
and money...

For more information about

Jacques Rattaz and his work
visit:

[GL] You are living and working in lovely

Switzerland. How come we dont see nature
and mountains in your photos?
[JR] As said before, I like the contact with
people... I dont easily find inspiration in front
of a landscape... As in front of an apple, two
lemons and some nuts on a wooden table...
I have difficulties to exchange opinions with
them... Of course I have sometimes to do these
kind of pictures in order to illustrate our courses
or to demonstrate to our students... But I think
that each one has its specialties depending on
its way of living, education, experiments. For
me inspiration is coming from people, so I feel
my artistic soul coming out mainly in fashion,
portrait, boudoir, nude, concert and crowded
events photography... But I dont like to be a
wedding photographer... Strange...
[GL] Thank you very much, Mr. Rattaz.

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Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

29

By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light

with One Bare Speedlight
Building a perfect light sphere in your closet

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothingmore

to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Although many shooting techniques in beauty photography may look really impressive and difficult to apply, most of them are much easier than people doing
them would have you believe. High-key lighting is one such technique.

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

30

When you see a picture that features

a model bathed in a torrent of soft,
charming light, a part of your mind
simply refuses to admit that this
heavenly display has, in fact, been shot
inside a small room, a basement studio,
a white tent in someones backyard
even a storage room or a garage, for
that matter!
How do we know? Having done quite
a number of high-key photos, we never
actually had to visit the pearly gates
or a sterile white room in the Matrix
for this its always been as Spartan
as possible. As long as you have
any interior space with reasonable
reflective properties (i.e. white walls
and ceiling), you can make it look all
shiny and ethereal just like we did.

This is the lighting diagram for my original setup.

Thats why many photographers love

high-key lighting so much it spares
them unflattering backgrounds, ugly
shadows and glitchy colors. Its a nifty
technique to learn, and it doesnt take
all that much in terms of equipment or
skill. If you want to learn how to shoot
in high-key, this is what you will need:
a reasonably white room any
interior with white walls and ceiling,
a tent or even a DIY shelter made of
white sheets will serve;
a lightstand;
a speedlight;
a quality lens when in doubt, go
for a 50 mm prime lens, but it would
be better to have a fast telezoom or
a superzoom lens for this.

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

31

Now, the last time we showed this kid

of lighting setup in a video on our blog
SmokingStrobes.com, we used no less
than three flashes to light up the scene!
Two were directed at the background
(set for 1/4 of their power), while the
remaining one was placed slightly
behind me to lend a little bit of light to
the foreground at 1/16 of full capacity.
If you want to know how that previous
shoot unraveled, you can watch the
video directly from the blog.

Its hard to imagine that this was shot in a

hideously small room with barely any space
for the model and the speedlights.

As nice as the pictures from this shoot looked, they led me to think that three flashes would, in most cases, be
an overkill for a high-key setup. For my second experiment, I only used one.

Taken from my previous shoot with the model

Coco. Abundant lighting, burned out white
background, barely any shadows those are
the hallmarks of high-key photos.

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

33

Time has passed, things have changed and now we realize that the same results
could have been achieved with only one speedlight at our disposal. Back then, we
thought that the simplest and most effective solution to equalize out the distribution of light in the room was to add more flashes. In hindsight, this was a poorly
thought-out strategy: the lighting seemed slightly aggressive, and highlights, although soft, were very, very bright indeed.

Pale-skinned models like

Fredau here will look
most beautiful in the
soft light of one carefully placed flash, rather
than in a shining surge
from three speedlights.

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

34

What we should have done was to

re-position the one speedlight that
we had: mount it on a lightstand, get
it further away from the background
and aim it properly. This would have
taken care of our uneven lighting
problem by ensuring that every part
of the room reflected the light in equal
measure. That way, not only was
high-key lighting achieved with a lot
less equipment, but the hightlights
were soft instead of intense, and the
background was glowing and shining
with warmth instead of burned out.
Now that this ideas been tested and
proved to work fine, we would like to
share it with all of you. If for some
reason you dont own three flashes,
have never taken high-key shots
before or prefer work with as little gear

as possible, you will definitely find this

information useful. Lets get to it, shall
we?

A solitary speedlight will do the trick just as

well as three of them have in some ways,
even better!

This is what my new, simpler and cleaner setup looks like.

When shooting high-key

pictures, try to make your
images same but different by changing up small
details like clothing, the
models facial expression,
marginal changes in her
pose etc.

During my shoot with the model Jennifer Hill I

tried to get by with a single speedlight. The results were quite satisfying.

When the background details are flushed out,

the viewers will focus on your model, so make
sure she looks her best.

With a single-speedlight setup, we

kill two birds with one stone we
rein in the highlights that used to
be a little too intense, and we also
de-clutter our set from extra gear.

High-key lighting is great for maternity photos.

Soft light emphasizes how charming Modelina
looks here.

Who says a mom cant be cool

and upbeat? We and Modelina
beg to differ. High-key lighting
can make for a very playful mood.

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

38

between the upper section of the wall

and the ceiling. Cover any of the darker
objects of interior with you guessed
it white pieces of cloth. Now position
your model, aim the camera and shoot
some posh photos!
See, didnt we tell you it was easier
than it looked? Also, maybe its just
us, but this new one-light setup seems
to produce less aggressive lighting,
which can be very advantageous if
your model has a pale complexion.
As you can see, shooting high-key
images with one speedlight is a valid
and extremely useful technique.
Now, to get better results and further
refine your photographic skill of taking
high-key shots, you may want to heed
some additional advice:
The light is so soft and omnipresent that we
didnt need any additional reflectors or fill
flashes for this scene. Normally, a couple
would cast shadows on each other. High-key
lighting took care of this for us, while at the
same time providing the necessary mood.

When shooting in high-key, our goal is

to light up the model from all directions,
burning out the background and
leaving as little shadow as possible,
but at the same time keeping the
light soft, albeit quite bright. White
surfaces will act as reflectors, whereas
the speedlight is going to be our main
lighting source.
Mount the flash on a lightstand and
set it for 50% power; place it behind
the model so the speedlight would
face the white background somewhere

- The amount of light captured by your

camera will vary depending on the
speedlight settings and the reflective
properties of the models surroundings.
If you dont feel like there is enough
light for a decent high-key image,
ramp up the intensity of the flash or
bring in a reflector to the side that is
insufficiently lit.
- Chances are that your white room is
going to be quite tight for two people
so be a gentleman and zoom in with
your lens instead of trying to cram
yourself in there.
- By their very nature, high-key photos
tend to look generic; to avoid this,
emphasize variety in the models
poses, lingerie (or lack thereof), facial

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight

39

expressions, make-up (or lack thereof),

hair-do etc. There will be no interesting
background or curious lighting patterns
to add to the atmosphere, so do the
best you can with what youve got.
- High-key lighting is usually used
to convey upbeat and jolly mood,
and rightly so its thoroughly nondramatic. You can use it to create very
expressive and punchy pictures, as
clean and beautiful or as lively and
joyful as you want them to be.
So, today weve learned how to make
a high-key lighting setup the minimalist
way with nothing but a speedlight
and a white interior. Congratulations,
you have discovered a little secret of
beauty photography: high-key images
are not so hard to do! Now dont miss
a prime opportunity to enhance your
portfolio with some sophisticated
pictures; you know it doesnt take much
to shoot those but your viewers dont.
This is time to impress them with your
photographic prowess!
Oleg Starko

There is nothing wrong with depicting a male

model in soft high-key light.

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Back Issues?
Have them all!
Complementary
Colors Used Right

Use the Clock-Face

Lighting System

Onelight vs. Two &

Three Light Setups

The Quick Portrait

Lighting Trick

Publisher
ProPortfolioClub.com
Zelbel Ltd. & Co.KG
all rights reserved
Editor
Michael Zelbel
Text
Oleg Starko
Photos / Video
Michael Zelbel
Jacques Rattaz
Postproduction
Gina Hernandez
Graphic Design
Renzy Memije
Alex Zlatev

Cover
Model:
Styling:
Photo:
Campaign:

Coco
Emily Wei
Michael Zelbel
Phottix Odin

Dsseldorf, Germany

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