Creating dramatic headshots using multiple lights doesn’t have to be difficult. One of the best ways to become proficient at using a three-light setup is by building it one light at a time. In this article and the accompanying video, I will demonstrate how you can easily create dramatic headshots and portraits using a key light, kicker light, and fill light.
You can absolutely create professional-level portraits using nothing but a single key light, but once you move into multi-light setups, you get a bit more creative and technical control over the final image. One of the first ways to do this is by adding a fill light, and this excellent video tutorial will show you what it is and how it can be used to create better portraits.
Tutorials on using a 1-light setup for portrait photography are commonplace, and rightly so. There are several ways that a single light source can be positioned to create flattering lighting on a subject. You might think that switching to a 2-light setup would be twice as complicated. This isn’t the case. There are several 2-light arrangements that are easy to understand and quick to set up. Using 2 lights can make it easy for you to transition between a clean headshot and a dramatic portrait.
While many lighting brands today are trying to simplify their products, the Fusion TLC Raven arrives as the most feature-rich wireless trigger ever made.
Gaining a strong grasp of lighting is essential not only to producing technically competent photographs but for developing a personal creative style as well. If you are struggling a bit to get up and running, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a versatile and effective portrait lighting setup that is useful for a wide variety of scenarios.
I have a very small office space, which I use for work and filming tutorials. For the filming part, I was looking for a compact lighting solution. Typical studio lights are often quite large and wouldn’t have provided the versatility I needed. That’s why I’m glad I got introduced to the Colbor CL60R, which I review in this article.
