Good communication with your subject, posing, and post-processing are all crucial skills as a headshot photographer, but you also need to have a strong grasp of lighting to make great images. This comprehensive video tutorial will show you how to create lighting setups for portraits and headshots.
Coming to you from Yaneck Wasiek with Westcott Lighting, this excellent video tutorial will show you how to build lighting setups for portraits and headshots. If you are new to artificial lighting, it is generally a good idea to start with a single light first. This will allow you to more easily build a strong foundation and an intuitive understanding of things like relative light source size and fall-off without having to manage more complicated setups. On top of that, it is important to remember that you can absolutely create great headshots with a single light. Once you master the single light, then it is time to start adding more sources to your setups. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Wasiek.
If you like to continue learning about how to light headshots and portraits, be sure to check out “Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!”