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No, you don’t need 5 strobes to take a great portrait. Create beautiful cinematic lighting with just one light

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Sometimes I watch movies or TV shows, and I miss important plot points because I’m trying to figure out how they did the lighting. I just find cinemagraphic lighting incredibly inspiring, and it’s always something I’d like to strive for in my stills photography. But looking at lighting diagrams, it always seems so complicated.

I love to use just one light when I can, so you can imagine my delight when I spotted this excellent video tutorial from Armando Ferreira. He walks us through 4 different cinematic lighting effects that use just one light.

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Here is a room you can never fully light with one light

In photography, light is everything. After all, that’s the key part of its very name. When taking photos indoors, there are many setups you can make with just one light. And did you know that, in theory, almost every room will be lit no matter where you place the light?

However, here’s something I’m sure you’ll find interesting. When there are mirrors on the walls, any room shape will be fully lit but one. It’s called the Penrose unilluminable room, and in his video, Steve Mould talks about this interesting phenomenon.

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How to shoot outdoor portraits using the sun as a back light

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When you’re outside shooting on location you don’t always want to heft a lot of gear around with you, particularly if you don’t have an assistant. So how can you shoot dramatic portraits with just one light? Simple! Use the sun as your second light source. It’s relatively simple to do, requires no battery packs and creates a beautiful slightly cinematic look. In this video, Ashley from Westcott shows you how to do it.

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How to shoot stylized beauty portraits with just one light and a reflector

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Keeping the amount of kit you use at a low level can sometimes be down to simply a lack of availability. But it could also be that you’re simply limited in what you’re able to carry with you to shoot at a client’s location. Or, maybe you just want to bring things right back down to the bare minimum to really understand light and how your gear works.

Whatever the reason, Lindsay Adler is here to help. Using just a single strobe with a big softbox and a big reflector (in this case, a white v-flat) she creates a very effective and dramatic portrait. That’s the key word here, though. Big. Big light sources produce beautiful light for portraits as Lindsay demonstrates in this shot breakdown.

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How to create clean simple product shots with just one light and a bit of AI

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Have you ever wondered how you can create high-quality product shots using just one speed light? Dustin Dolby from Workphlo show us how to do just that in his latest video, and it is really very simple. I’m a huge fan of using minimal gear if you can, and I love to use just one light source when possible. As you can see from Dustin’s final images you can create a very solid looking e-commerce type image with this method.

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Follow these three tips to create dramatic portrait lighting with a single light

Lighting is one of the key elements in photography. It can make it or break it, and it adds a lot to the story you want to tell with your image. In this video, Adorama teams up with Emily Teague who talks about the use of dramatic lighting in portraits. She tells you about how to use it, and gives you a lighting demo to show you her simple setup for dramatic, moody portraits.

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Use this simple setup for gorgeous one-light portraits

While using one light for portraits is quite a simple approach, there are many ways in which you can use it. A single light lets you create all kinds of different setups, and Jiggie Alejandrino shows you one of them in his video. It’s a simple setup that will give you nice, flattering portrait light, and it will work great in a small studio space. Also, you can create it on a relatively small budget.

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Check out this amazing one-light portrait setup you’ve probably never even considered

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Portrait photographer Jiggie Alejandrino is a big fan of shooting with just a single light for portraits. He’s already shown us some pretty cool and dramatic one-light setups in the last few months. But now he’s back with a very interesting setup that most of have probably never even considered. And that’s bringing the softbox overhead pointing straight down.

It’s certainly not something I’ve usually considered. At least, not for portraits. It’s a technique I use often for small products to simulate a big cloudy sky, but with larger subjects like people, that cast some pretty obvious shadows, how well does it work? Well, looking at Jiggie’s demonstration, it works pretty well!

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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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