A black & white headshot on a pure black background revealing only the subject - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/6.3 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/1 power in 43" brolly to frame rightI met Eric this afternoon in St. Petersburg Florida to make a few different style of headshots for him to help him promote the publication of his first book! I used my usual strobist setup of two speedlights and brolly & shoot through umbrella light modifiers. I did not intend with the above headshot to have the background be all black, meaning I did not use the fastest shutter speed and try to control light spill as much as possible to create it while shooting. Instead I added it using a black & white conversion filter in Color Efex Pro. Personally, I really like headshots and portraits where the light only reveals some of the subject, making it look like the subject is emerging from the background.
Three-quarter standing business headshot on digital white background St. Petersburg Florida Commercial Photography - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/100th - Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/1 power in 43" brolly frame right & SB-600 @ 1/1 power in 43" shoot through umbrella to rear frame leftEric wanted an approximate three-quarters view headshot on a white background. I had my neutral gray collapsible background setup with a white sheet over it. The white sheet does not produce a pure white background, Photoshop editing is still required, but it does make cutting the subject out much easier. For this shot I used more of a backlit setup with the secondary light well behind Eric.
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