Take your best one-light portraits by ‘finding the light’

When you’re starting out shooting with strobes, it can be difficult to visualise how the lighting might look. This is why, as with anything, it’s great to spend a lot of time practising and trying out different approaches.

Targeted deliberate practice is always going to yield better results than just trying things at random. In this video, Mark Wallace shows you how to light portraits with one light by moving around the subject. This way, you will learn what each angle will look like, and when you next have a shoot, you’ll have more options at your disposal.

In this instance, Mark is moving the camera around his subject and moving her as well. The light is staying still. However, you could just as easily try this by moving the light. The idea is to give yourself the freedom to try different angles and positions in relation to where the light is, not always having it at a 45-degree angle, for example. Mark also experiments with different apertures and tries f/4.5 up to f/11.

In the video, Mark really likes the light behind and slightly to the front of the model, which gives a very high contrast effect. He later refines this look, creating a beautiful, striking portrait.

Of course, because you aren’t moving the light source around, you can also do this if you’re shooting with natural light. If you have a large window with a diffusion fabric over it, this method will work extremely well, and you may be surprised just how nice the images you take are.

It can be so easy to get stuck in a rut when shooting portraits. We tend to always go for the safe option that we know will work. However, it’s also great to experiment in a low-pressure situation and try out new ideas. You may well surprise yourself.

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