Beauty Light

My wife doesn't like sitting for pictures. So I don't often get the opportunity. Too bad because when she does it, she rocks it!

Photogeek Talk: This was an exercise in soft clamshell lighting - a softbox in front of the subject angling down from above, and a silver reflector below bouncing light back up into her face. I also added a hair light from behind and to camera-right. Clamshell is a classic lighting technique that works really well on women and children. I've also heard it referred to as "beauty lighting" and often a beauty dish is employed instead of the softbox that I used. It's pretty easy to set up, although the last time I did it, I screwed it up and got distracted by the interesting result of the error. Anyway, it's a very flattering light if you have the face to pull it off.