CASE STUDY

Photographer:    Andrew Kung/Andrew Kung Group

Assist/BTS:    Rachel Lutz/Andrew Kung Group

Category:   Male Portrait Photoshoot Case Study

This was a shoot that was meant to be captured in a fashion that would yield  images that were classic and ageless. We also wanted to produce images that had detailed textures and soft shadow qualities. With highly detailed textures showing, we felt that hard shadows would be pushing it too far and would result in an image that would be distracting; although we do that on occassion, it would not be suitable for this shoot and the timeless art direction we were tasked with.

For this shoot, we used an 8×10 Oliphant hand-painted canvas backdrop, a distressed wooden floor and a neutral matte gray chair alongside our model. We felt that all of these elements would contribute well to the timeless look and feel to create images that would last for many years.

We placed our key light on camera left at almost a 90 degree angle from the camera, pointing towards the right side of our model. To soften the shadows on the left side of the model, we used a large and soft light source placed right next to the camera, pointing directly at the model. For the various images you will see below, we moved our key light’s position and height slightly to obtain some variation in the images. Sometimes it was placed more even with the subject in terms of height and sometimes we placed our key light high above the subject’s head. Similarly, we moved the position of the light so it would be behind, aligned with and slightly in front of the subject to create different shadows across his face.

For posing, we wanted to keep things more casual and less formal and we focused on bringing out his personality, capturing plenty of candid shots. We did both standing and sitting poses but we typically prefer more sitting shots for this style of lighting. For more ideas on posing, feel free to download a copy of our posing guide here.

2 LIGHT SETUP

How To Setup Lighting For Male Portrait Photography

EQUIPMENT USED

(ITEMS ARE LINKED BELOW)

PROFOTO PRO HEAD PLUS

PHOTEK SOFTLIGHTER II UMBRELLA WHITE 46″

PHOTEK SOFTLIGHTER II UMBRELLA WHITE 60″

IMPACT C-STAND CHROME 10.75′

IMPACT C-STAND EXTENSION GRIP ARM 40″

PROFOTO D4 GENERATOR

FLASHPOINT SADDLE SANDBAG BLACK (18LB CAPACITY)

For this shoot, I used two Profoto Heads and two Photek Softlighter II umbrellas with front diffusers. These umbrellas with front diffusers are what we typically call ‘brolly boxes’, short for umbrella softboxes. We used a smaller umbrella for our key/main light on camera left and a larger one for more softness for the front fill light.

Things to watch out for:

1) For this look, you want to make sure you aren’t creating hard shadows, which is why we went with brolly boxes in an effort to diffuse the light twice.

2) Your front fill light should be be at least 1 or 2 stops below your key light; if not you’ll end up with a flat image without enough highlight and shadow differentiation. We also went with a larger size to soften the shadows even more.

For a more economical and affordable lighting setup, you can also consider these great alternatives here.

Want to try out this setup? Rent this setup for your next portrait photoshoot!

SPECIAL THANKS:

Model and Wardrobe: Craig Stevenson

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