Watch to learn the how and why of lighting male portrait subjects
Feb 9, 2021
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Lighting human subjects can be pretty tricky sometimes, especially when you’re used to photographing people of one gender and you try to photograph somebody of another. You’d think they’d all be lit the same, but that’s not the case, as wedding, portrait and fashion photographer Jerry Ghionis demonstrates in this video.
It’s not difficult to light male subjects, but there are a few misconceptions out there. Jerry wants this video to help “demystify lighting male subjects once and for all”, with a bunch of tips and tricks he’s developed over the past 20 years using minimal gear.
Jerry walks through a whole bunch of different lighting scenarios that are quite common and explains how and why they’re… sort of ok. They have their appeal, but they’re not great. They’re not very creative and don’t really draw the viewer in. Open shade, for example, makes for nice soft skin, but it doesn’t really add any depth to the image. We also see direct sunlight, backlit and a couple of different open shade scenarios.
From there… Well, you’ll just have to watch the video. It’s 22-minutes long and it goes pretty in-depth into the principles and the why of lighting, rather than just the how. It’s easy to just copy somebody else’s lighting setup, but to understand the why and be able to make your own choices as to which lighting setup will work best for a given image is an invaluable skill to develop.
So, watch, and enjoy!
Do you struggle with lighting male portraits?
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John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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