How to shoot clean minimalist studio portraits

Sometimes, a minimalist, no-fuss approach is the best. And just like the Little Black Dress, a plain white background will never go out of style. You don’t need a lot of equipment to achieve this look, however, it still creates impact.

In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey shows us his approach to shooting minimalist portraits on a white background, using just one light.

Equipment and Setup

Gavin uses an Easy Frame background which is simple to set up and teardown. It’s perfect if you don’t need this set-up permanently in a studio. Any plain white fabric or seamless paper backdrop will work.

For lighting, Gavin is using a single Flashpoint Xplore 300 flash with a large softbox to create gentle soft shadows that do not dominate the picture.

Gavin’s camera settings are 1/250th of a second (flash sync speed), f/5.6 (depth of field), and ISO 200, though obviously you can adjust these to taste, depending on the depth of field you want, and your camera’s sync speed.

Minimalist feel

To create a feeling of expansiveness and really running with the minimalist feel, Gavin is choosing to frame his subject with a lot of negative space. He has deliberately kept the colour palette very simple, with a view to converting to black and white in post. This limit on colours also adds to the minimalist effect.

Small studio solutions

We aren’t all blessed to have a gigantic studio, and many of us find ourselves shooting in small spaces. Gavin suggests in this case, having the subject seated. You can also change your camera’s crop ration to 4:3 to create the illusion of more space, or additionally, you can add more background in post.

It’s great to go back to basics sometimes, and a simple white background is a timeless look that is a great fallback option when you need it. A simple one light set-up can still create magic, and if you ever have to shoot on location with minimal gear, this could be a good solution.

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