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In classic Jeff Rojas style, let’s review how to simply light a portrait while still capturing the features and accents of our model’s facial features.

Walk through the mall, open a magazine, see a TV ad for make up and the first thing that's noticed is how bright and clean the image is with large catch lights and glowing skin. While a some of this has to do with styling the shoot, a lot of it comes from how the image is illuminated. Some photographers would assume that it requires a pricey studio, it's actually quite easy to recreate this look with just speedlights!  

Creating a high fashion portrait doesn't always have to involve a massive budget and an army of assistants carting in equipment. Sometimes creating a portrait is about getting back to the basics; with one light there's so many options to choose from.

Old Hollywood produced a type of lighting that is still popular today. This film noir, high contrast looks was originally created with hot lights, barn doors, and fresnel lenses. Today, however, we can recreate this look without breaking out large lights and heavy modifiers.