Rangefinder - June 2017

Lily Moreno. Ahead of shoots, I set up mood boards on Pinterest that I share with everyone involved so they know what the expectations are. It also gives Caitlin an idea of the types of wardrobe to bring to a shoot. Since we had a lot of the ideas pre-planned for this particular shoot, it ran smoothly with minimal issues. The only real challenge was selecting a background color that would complement her makeup. Fortunately, I had one of my collapsible backdrops from Savage that really helped pull our ideas together.

The lighting consists of two Profoto D2 heads. One was inside of a white Profoto beauty dish, the other inside of a Profoto 5’ RFi Octa Softbox. Both lights were positioned behind and above the purple background. Caitlyn sat about 1-foot away from the background, with a small table in front of her that was holding a silver reflector. Positioned behind me was a 9-foot white seamless paper backdrop from Savage, which I used to bounce the light from the D2s to fill in and expose the image. The beauty dish was at a slightly higher power, which is what created the highlight in her hair.

When it comes to lighting, my biggest rule is to make sure you are using the right light shaper for your subject and intended result. If you are going for a portrait look—like the one you see here—and happen to have a subject with great skin, it’s preferrable to use a harder light source like a beauty dish or umbrella, as it makes their skin look even better. Soft light shapers, like the Profoto 5’ RFi Octa Softbox, are great to use with anyone regardless of their skin type. Choosing the right light shaper will make your job in post much easier and yield a higher quality result.

I am a portrait junkie. I love the challenge of capturing character and mood in my images. I work hard every time to create portraits that grab people’s attention, and much of my style is influenced by a variety of photographers whose work I greatly admire, such as Marco Grob, Gavin O’Neill and Nino Muñoz.

To learn more about the Profoto D2 light, please visit profoto.com, and follow @profotousa on Instagram. See more from Miguel Quiles at miguelquiles.com and offcameraflash.com.

THIS IMAGE WAS TAKEN AT MY DENVILLE, NEW JERSEY, STUDIO in April of this year. The session, with model Caitlyn Christine, was for my portfolio, but these images in particular were actually a lighting test to experiment with a new lighting setup.

Caitlin and I collaborate often, and for this shoot we worked with makeup artist

TIPS & TRICKS

TURNING CHALLENGES INTO AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE BEAUTIFUL IMAGES.

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UNDERSTAND WHEN TO USE HARD AND
SOFT LIGHT SHAPERS. Try a variety of
shapers in a single shoot to see which flatter
certain types of skin better. In time, your eyes
will be trained so that choosing becomes
automatic.

— CREATE INTERESTING CATCHLIGHTS in your portraits. I can shoot a nice portrait with one light, but adding a silver reflector can give you an interesting catchlight in your subject’s eyes, drawing even more attention to the image.

— IF YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE LIGHT SHAPER, invest in a large octa. You can create a lot of different looks using just that one light shaper with a reflector.

— THE SOFTEST, MOST INTERESTING LIGHT is usually generated at the edges of a softbox.

Get used to feathering your light if you want to achieve that painterly quality.

— DON’T GET BOGGED DOWN IN LIGHTING RATIOS and other technical details. As you experiment, you’ll develop your own taste and aesthetic that might not conform to traditional lighting principles—and that’s totally okay!