The red set is lit with a 4x6 softbox, a hair light, a kicker and a fill that is behind me and a grid on a background light. You can see the effect of the hair light and if you look at the viewers right shoulder you can see a small accent on her shoulder from the kicker.

The blue/gold is lit with a 4x6 soft box and a reflector. There is a grid on a background light hitting the gold wall. On the pull back there is no reflector. Look at the opposite side of the face on that one then on the next two there is a reflector used....see how it opens the shadow.

These are basically straight out of the camera. Slight adjustments to exposures and midtones. No retouching. I'll post the finished product after the new year.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Thanks Charles. Light for thought!

Neil

(GREAT idea for a thread! )

Question: why do you have her sitting on a blanket/towel (?) in the first one?

Originally Posted by divamum (GREAT idea for a thread! ) Question: why do you have her sitting on a blanket/towel (?) in the first one?

@divamum:
I'm going to guess its because the back of the chair is taller than the model, and sitting on the blanket gives her some height in relation to the chair-back?

Yes, back was way too talll for her.

I LOVE this subject matter, it is very helpful to me !! Thanks for starting the thread!

Originally Posted by VayCayMom I LOVE this subject matter, it is very helpful to me !! Thanks for starting the thread!

+1!

Thanks for the explanation - I didn't think of that because I was so struck by the way the blanket was angled to push her forward that it didn't occur to me it was simply to raise her up (my ability to miss the obvious sometimes is pretty amazing )

This is such a great thread - I hope lots of people will contribute their own pullbacks over the months, since it's SOOOO helpful!!

It's always great to see the whole setup like this......fantastic portraits btw......

[FONT=Calibri]Thanks for the set up shot, really like #4,#5.[/FONT]

Again these are right out of camera with a very quick black pt adjustment and no cropping. The pull backs were taken with a little canon set on auto. I'll try to post the finished product soon.
2 was with 4x6 main, hair and fill bounced off ceiling. Blue gel on bkg lt.
4 was with 4x6 main and reflector and two strips at bkg.
6 was two strips coming in from behind and the 4x6 low in front.
9 was just the home made reflector filling in shadow. The reflector is white, or grey or silver. I used the white.
I had to work fast with this guy (they were very late and I had another one after this) so I didn't always hit the exposure correctly the first time.

2.
2a.
4.
4a.
6.
6a.
9.
9a.
9b.

One for fun.

Wow - that 4x6 really earns its keep, doesn't it? Love - LOVE - #6. Next item on my wishlist is some stripboxes (which means some more flashes to put in them) - I've found that 90% of the time when I really like a lighting setup and ask what it was... strips were involved.

Presumably you have separate sets pre-built at your studio and don't have to rejig this stuff during the shoot... or do you? And presumably that outside set is (semi) permanent?

Once again, THANK YOU!

Originally Posted by divamum Presumably you have separate sets pre-built at your studio and don't have to rejig this stuff during the shoot... or do you? And presumably that outside set is (semi) permanent? Once again, THANK YOU!

Thats what I was thinking (with jealousy in my heart). Especially since everything I do has to be portable from one shot to the next (wedding/ event) coverage....

These are super fun to see! Thanks for the details and explanations behind each pic. Super fun thread!

Divamum, my shooting room is about 17 by 34. I've got a bunch of stuff I just put together in different arrangements so I can make a variety of looks. I use both ends of the room plus some of the sides. The outside is a dune I built one summer.

Charles, DUDE!! You are the man, LOVE, LOVE this insight! And the sand pit, whoaaa! Awesome creativity at work, we all want to play at your house !!

Really great set ups......

Ok now I gotta ask...what lights are you using.......did over look it as I was perusing the great pix??

Art, I use White Lightnings and Alien Bees mainly. MY fill lights are old Normans. Boxes are a bit of everyone, Larson, Paul Buff, Apollo etc.

Originally Posted by Hackbone Art, I use White Lightnings and Alien Bees mainly. MY fill lights are old Normans. Boxes are a bit of everyone, Larson, Paul Buff, Apollo etc.

The 4x6 is lit with which??

Thanks for posting these. It is very helpful to see the setup and the final results, which are very nice indeed...