Studio Portrait With Model Kim Wright

This studio portrait of Kim may be one of my all time favorite images I’ve taken of her. I’ve photographed her quite a bit over the last year and a half so there are lots of images to compete. 

Studio Portrait Shines the Light

One of my favorite things about shooting in studio is shaping the light to what you envision. Your results are pretty much only limited by your creative input. You get to control how much, where, and how the light will fall on your subject. This opens so many doors on how your images will turn out. Of course at times it can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. Your mind can go into overload if you let it with so many options.

I prefer to try and keep things simple and limit myself on how many lights I use. Typically I use two or three strobes to create my vision. However there is something to be said for nailing a shot with only one strobe. Following the KISS principle can really make you focus on what you want your outcome to be. The shot above was with only one light. Utilizing a large gridded stripbank modifier I was able to keep the light contained to just our model Kim.

Even with the stripbank being narrow, it is still a large light source compared to our model. You can see the inverse square law kicking in with the light fall off. Kim’s face is perfectly exposed as the rest of her slowly turns darker. Love this look with how the light just falls off. A little dark and moody but yet Kim seems to shine above the darkness.

Shooting on location here in AZ is still tops in my book. The natural light can’t be beat. However you can’t control the sun and shape it like you can in studio. Photography is about light and shadows. Having both types of light available at your fingertips is a blessing. It allows me to grow as a photographer.