Three light portrait photography

In class today, I demonstrated a few basic ideas in studio portrait lighting. Here, the key light is a large softbox placed high and to the camera left. This provides soft, wraparound lighting and also a catchlight in Brandi's eyes. The fill light is an umbrella, placed camera right and farther away. It is strong enough to soften the shadows but not to eliminate the shadows. The third light was placed to camera left and angled to light the subject mostly from behind. This is what we call a "separation light." The light gives some definition to subject's arm, shoulder, and hair, and "separates" her from the background. The background here is a white screen, but since the only light that's hitting it is spill from the lights pointed at Brandi, it appears gray. (If this had been a commercial shoot instead of just a classroom demonstration, I'd have worked with a stylist to keep hair and makeup perfect before and during the shoot--loose bits of hair can be cloned out with Photoshop, but it's better to address that issue on set, rather than in post production.)

Done