There seems to be a trend that everyone wants the softest light possible. I see it everywhere. Although it works well in some instances, it's mixing the two that really makes things interesting. For these portraits, I used a common technique, a hard light very close to the subjects face.

I used a Para 133 as a fill 2.5 stops under exposed, then a gridded 2.5 foot soft box 2 stops under pointed at the face. Finally, I used a Siros L 800 with a 30-degree grid, boomed directly above the subjects face, skimming across.

All these use the same technique but with different positions of the hard light to work with the varying features of the subject. I moved the light out more or tilted the subject’s head back if they had deeper eye sockets.

For the next setup, I simply added an orange gel to the key light and put the lights behind the subject, pointing them back towards the camera so the shadow side of the face was towards the camera.

All the lights used were Siros 800 L. I have to say that the travel kit and bag that comes with the broncolor Siros L 800Ws Battery-Powered-2-Light Outdoor Kit 2 makes traveling on a plane with this so easy.

Models: Ronald Spriggs, Chris Maher (@chrisfredma), Gabija Guzauskaite (@officialgabija) Suits- ESQ Clothing

Studio-Joshua Albanese (@joshuaalbanese) and Michael Schacht (@michaelschacht312)