Using multiple lights can enable complex and innovative creative opportunities that simply would not be possible with just a single light or natural light. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how this dramatic nighttime portrait was lit with three lights.
Coming to you from Eli Infante with Westcott Lighting, this great video tutorial will show you how he lit and shot this dramatic nighttime portrait. Though multi-light setups are more complex, notice that all the same fundamentals of single-light setups apply. One particularly important thing to note is how Infante builds up the shot. He does not just turn on every light and try to balance them simultaneously. Instead, he first gets his key light right, then the two background lights, before checking all of them together to fine-tune them. This makes it much easier to see the exact effect each light is having and to adjust them accordingly. Lastly, note how Infante carefully gets the lights right before setting off the smoke bombs, as they only work for a limited time. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Infante.
If you would like to learn more about lighting for portraiture, be sure to check out “Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!”