I love teaching at the School of Photography, run by my good friend Dennis Fahringer. I think it is the best school of photography I have come across. Here is a link to learn more about the school.

This is my favorite light for headshots. We didn’t have my Tri-Flector that I love to use, so we used a softbox lower under the person’s chin.

This was the lighting set up—the main light was 45º above the camera, and the fill light was below 45º. The key here is to keep the camera lights and subject in the same positions. You can have them face a little left or right but keep their head straight forward to get that butterfly formed under the nose due to the main light.

You can get many excellent photos by staying with a lighting setup and just having the person move a little right and left by mixing your expressions and body language.

For this assignment, I didn’t have the photographer light the background. I did suggest the hair light up and directly behind the subject. Putting the stand behind the background lets you hide it.

If a person was bald, I suggested not to use the hair light. If they had light hair, maybe no more than one stop brighter than the main light. If you have dark hair, you can often go as much as two stops more luminous than the main light.

Now, if you look closely at the eyes, you can see the main and fill light.

This is even closer for you to see the eyes.

This is a tip for deciphering photos. Look in the eyes; you can usually see where the lights are placed and the shape of the modifiers.

Here is my setup. I use it most of the time for headshots of actors and models.

This is the second modification where I light the background.

This last setup is where I have enough space. I turn on the lights behind the background for white and turn them off for a grey background.

KISS Rule

Keep It Simple Stupid – is what I have been taught through the years. Don’t overthink things.

I hope this inspires you to use lights with your photos.

I love teaching at the School of Photography, run by my good friend Dennis Fahringer. I think it is the best school of photography I have come across. Here is a link to learn more about the school.

I love to teach lighting. One of the setups I love to teach is one I learned first from my Uncle Knolan Benfield.

He is the one that taught me what a 3:1 Light Ratio setup looks like and why I should know how to shoot it.

These are some of the shots that the students produced last week during my time teaching at the School of Photography in Kona, Hawaii.

The problem with too contrasty lighting is that when it is reproduced in something like a newspaper, the shadows go black. The 3:1 ratio produces a good shadow on newspaper print yet still has some modeling on the face.

Here is a blog post that goes step by step on how to shoot it.

I wanted you to see how students who had never done lighting before my time with them could not just master it but get great expressions as well of their subjects.

They learned that having an excellent solid lighting setup can free you to work on expressions and pose.

They also were challenged to write a little story on their subjects. John Davidson wrote this about his subject.

Stan was a farmer who raised potatoes, alfalfa, and wheat and grew marijuana. Unfortunately, he also smoked marijuana and used many harder drugs. His life was a mess, and he almost killed himself. He went to a Drug & Treatment Center and got clean. He retired after working 27 years at Idaho National Laboratory as a nuclear reactor Operator/Instructor.

The idea is that sharing a photo with a story with the picture makes it so much more exciting, and people come back to look for more.

What do you think of these students’ photos they made of people?

I believe there is such a thing as overdirecting a person during a headshot/portrait session.

I love working with actors because they want to use their skills and rarely get to do that with photographers during a headshot.

Before I get an intimate and what I would call a transparent moment with a subject, they have to be relaxed and comfortable with me.

One technique I use is asking “actors” to give me as many facial expressions as they can in 30 seconds. Those just starting in acting often will struggle, but for those who love to perform and do a variety of characters, this is like a psychogenic ‘trip.’ They are Thrill-Seekers whose risk is being perceived as being weird or off.

So “pushing the envelope” or “pushing the limits” means testing the boundaries of what is safe or acceptable in a given situation by exceeding those boundaries.

Once I have gone with them on this journey of letting them perform risky expressions, they tend to let me in.

They can tap into their emotions and let me see them through their eyes and faces.

For me, the most complex photo to get with people is one where their personality is being projected.

Even the smile photos are more genuine and inviting than had I not gone through asking them to give me all their expressions.

I slowly adjust the heads so that the light works best and their expressions are captured most effectively. That might mean I lower and raise the camera angle to their eyes.

I work hard at getting rid of things like double chins.

I like to think of getting a great expression because you need to have the subject go past the acceptable moment to an extreme.

My role is to create a safe environment where it is OK to try any expression, with the goal being that by pushing the limits, we can be truly transparent. This is when great moments can happen.

How do you get to the next level?

1. Educate Yourself. Have a goal in mind. …
2. Move From Thinking to Doing. …
3. Face Your Fear. …
4. Embrace Your Challenge. …
5. Avoid Procrastination. …
6. Adapt a “No Failure” Attitude. …
7. Create a positive environment.