Having studied at Exeter College Faye visited our central Exeter headshot photography studio for a set of actor headshots to support her upcoming applications; and what a session it was!
I think it’s fair to say that we were both really pleased with the output which supplied a great range of photographs and looks.
Portrait Lighting Modifiers
Ultimately photography (and cinematography) needs light, and considered light so it’s alway great to be able to take time and use different light modifiers to light faces.
It’s alway great to be able to take time and use different light modifiers to light faces. My go-to modifier is a Bowens Sunlite-Supersoft combo which gives a really good soft light that is also controllable so the light doesn’t spread around the studio too much. On this shoot we also used the Bowens Softlite which is a tiny beauty dish with a bespoke and complex softening diffuser on the front. Finally I used, for the white background shots, the Bowens Octo 90. This is a much larger modifier in which the strobe sits facing backwards. Being quite deep the light that it produces has a good amount of fall-off which helps to highlight structure. Nowadays it would probably be marketed as a parabolic.
The Sunlite-Supersoft is fantastic and gives a great soft and even light source. The Softlite, as many beauty dishes do, gives a much stronger structure to the lighting but the diffuser adds a unique appeal. Finally the Octo 90 is softer still but also gives more structure than a regular octabox; it is pretty big though. All three modifiers give nice round catchlights though. These are unique tools and as such some of the most valued items in the studio.
As ever there are more lights behind than in front, the background was Translum with a similar setup to below. For the dark shots a blue gel was put over the rear strobe which was fired into black seamless but again with the Translum in place.
