Single, Simple

I am a huge fan of single light portraiture. I not only admire it but I have been practicing this (whenever possible) for more than a decade now.

I have been using this technique either as key, fill or to light the background. The simplicity is what draws me to it.

If you're like me who started in this industry with just a single strobe to boot, you'll probably find yourself biting fingernails during shoot briefs. Always worrying if you'll be able to light for a frame properly with just one light.

Can you? The obvious answer is a resounding YES!

Whenever I work with just one light I always assess first what my ambient light is. This helps me decide on how to use my single light, whether for key, fill, or for lighting the background.

In this photo, I used it as my key light. The ambient light in the restaurant was too weak to use as key, but perfect for that "mood" lighting shot.

To light for this, I placed my single strobe at our subject's right (camera left). I decided that side lighting would be appropriate, I wanted to create shadows to add to that moody feel of the shot. I used a 36" white umbrella in shoot through position and set my strobe at its lowest power. I dragged the shutter to let those pin lights in and that cool blue light at the back was from outside (we were shooting at dusk).

I would actually suggest that you always come to a shoot prepared for anything, equipment wise that is, but if there's a limit to what you can bring, don't panic. Assess your location well, pick a spot where you have enough ambient light to work with, a background that will go well with the feel of the shot, and use these elements to create that shot.

Hope this helps, happy shooting!.