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Hard vs soft light – 5 portrait lighting setups broken down to show you when to use each

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When shooting portraits, the difference between hard and soft light on your subject makes a massive difference to the final result. There are so many ways we can use both, and when it comes to photographing people, the challenges of hard light can be particularly tricky to work around. But knowing when to use each allows you to make better creative decisions.

In this video, John Gress walks us through five different lighting setups using both hard and soft light to see how they come together and how the different quality of the light affects your subject and how it makes the final image look. You may even want to mix the two from time to time.

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Watch these four awesome one-light portrait setups in just 10 minutes

Most of us end up getting so bogged down with gear at some point that it can be difficult to choose exactly what gear we’re going to want to take to a session – especially when it comes to lighting. I’m sure I’m not the only one whose bags are comprised of 20% gear we’ll use and 80% “just in case” gear that we hardly ever use.

Sometimes, though, it’s nice to bring it down to the bare basics, carry less gear, and keep things simple with just one light. And for those just starting out, perhaps one light is all you may have. But fear not! In this video, photographer John Gress walks us through four very effective lighting setups that each use only a single light.

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Confused by lighting terms? Here’s what they all mean

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If you’re new to working with flash, especially when shooting portraits, all of the different terms for different lights can be quite confusing. With no context whatsoever, “key”, “fill”, “rim”, “kicker”, etc. are all kind of vague and non-descript. Once you understand the purpose for each, though, the naming convention becomes quite obvious.

In this video, photographer John Gress walks us through each of the different terms used for different types of lighting position, as well as how and why each of them are used when shooting portraits. He also mentions some of the names different photographers seem to use for the same thing – often a big cause of confusion judging by some of the posts I see on social media.

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Three one-light setups using V-Flats with three very different looks

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V-Flats are one of those most underrated studio accessories, but one of the most useful and versatile. At their core, they can do two things. They can reflect or block light, and that’s pretty much it. But photography is all about light, and controlling it through reflections and blocking.

They’re particularly useful when it comes to shooting portraits as their reflective sides can produce beautiful soft light and specular reflections. And they can also help to create a lot of drama. In this video from V-Flat World, photographer John Gress shows three different ways to use V-Flats for portraits using just a single light to get three different looks.

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