When it comes to lighting shoots, I love the extravagance of big complicated setups. I’m no stranger to using large studio spaces, to build 12x12 scrims and using up to 7 lights to light beauty portraits. Unfortunately, this time I didn’t have that luxury.

I was asked to collaborate on a fashion and lifestyle story with Heloise Sykes. Heloise has a beautiful olive tone textured wall in her apartment that became the backdrop for our shoot. Different sized thin wooden flats were painted in various warm and sandy tones. These flats were incorporated in the shoot and used as additional backdrops. The styling was kept clean, simple and modern. The colours used in the backdrop flats were repeated in some of the styling items to tie everything together.

Due to the limited space in the apartment, I decided to stick to using only the broncolor gear I received as a GenNEXT ambassador. I wanted to use a broncolor Octabox straight on from a high angle as my main light but due to the low ceiling height this wasn’t possible. The Octabox couldn’t be raised high enough to create flattering lighting and it ended being in the way of my shot.

I solved this problem by bouncing light from the ceiling instead. I used a Pulso G head, P65 reflector and a 30° honeycomb grid paired on a Scoro 1600 E. I pointed the P65 with grid towards the ceiling area two to three steps in front of the model. The grid helped create a rounder shape on the ceiling and it acted as an alternative to an Octabox. I placed white material in the area right under the spot of light. This create a slight fill from below. I used a 4 x 6’ (120cm x 180cm) Softbox as my secondary fill and placed it to the right of the camera. I attached it to a Siros L and positioned it at a 45° angle to my model.

I used a Pulso G and a P65 reflector without a grid as a second fill. This light was also bounced from the ceiling but faced away from the model. It was pointed at the ceiling area behind the camera and became an all-over fill light. It helped to make the lighting appear a little flatter. In addition, I hung up white material on the left-hand side of the model to make it act as a white reflector.

One thing that came in really handy with this shoot was the use of the bronControl app on my laptop. By placing my camera on a tripod and using Capture One and the bronControl app I was able to finetune the lighting without moving a muscle. It saved me tremendous time and effort and meant I didn’t have to run up and down to adjust the light settings.

Credits

• Photography by Marnus Meyer
• Model Michaela from FanJam models
• Styling and concept by Heloise Sykes from Bird on a Wire
• Makeup and hair by Carmen Thorne from Bird on a Wire