During last week’s stock photo shoot with Brittanie I took a small detour and captured a few portraits for non-stock use. This is one of the images. In this shot, I wanted to shoot her in a non-classical type of pose. The goal was to have everything but her skin blend into the background. Here is a diagram of the two-light setup used.

What this diagram doesn’t show is the large gobo between the key light (on the right) and the background used to eliminate light spill. Additionally, I placed a 3×4′ piece of black acrylic in front of Brittanie to use as a table and to add a subtle reflection to the bottom of the shot.

I’m pleased with the result, especially the lighting on her face which converted very nicely into black & white. If I were to shoot this again, I would use one additional light as a low-power hairlight to add a slight bit of separation between her shoulders and the background.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/4.5, ISO 100