Profoto B10 and their 5ft Octa are used in this behind the scenes photography lighting tutorial to explore creating soft light beauty portraits using off camera flash photography, using its soft light. We then explore setting up lighting so as to achieve stunning portraits. Off camera flash photography can create breathtaking portraits if used appropriately – and studio photography doesn’t need to be boring and mundane when using appropriate lighting to achieve stunning pictures!

Soft light generally refers to large sources, like this 5′ Profoto Octa box. We used two Profoto B10 lights as main light sources; and in addition used a V-Flat V-Flats in the background that are white in order to simulate high key shots; additional Profoto B10s back there have gridding capabilities so I’m trying to have this look like high key shots with minimal background distraction – we don’t want it detracting from our photos either; all together this setup makes us ready – my goal being as close to perfect exposures as possible – obviously moving around can change light changes but I like getting my exposure right in camera so there will be as little variation if she moves around at all;
Main light’s going to be at five and six. Because we want everything blown out, F8 might need to be added, depending on where we end up — main light should still remain at five and six and I will set my camera accordingly; five and six would give an ideal high key beauty portrait immediately. We trust our light meter and keep an eye on the histogram – shadows go on one side while highlights go on the other – in our camera backs as a second check on any exposure details that need tweaking; we know what our light meters tell us; let alone have any camera back-straps used on its back for details when checking exposure details; that way you have access to everything necessary when taking such images.
So although my photograph looks overexposed on camera, there’s no blown highlights here; that’s simply due to me trusting my light meter as an extra precautionary step.
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
With soft lighting, one key factor to keep in mind is finding the largest source of light you can. Although umbrellas don’t produce quite the same brightness as larger light sources like this 5′ light source. You should get that close as possible to your subject for maximum effect; its large size means it will wrap around her in soft light rather than creating hard shadows when off to one side compared with smaller light sources that create harsh shadows; plus closer you are, the softer the lighting effect will be. When working you must decide what matters to you personally when working under these constraints!
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100
So I want to meter in this image, which will cause my F11 lens to jump even higher as soon as I bring her close enough for focus. Let’s give this test shot a go anyways; our back light won’t be firing in that shot because F11 means no adjustment of exposure is allowed here and therefore comes out more evenly, yet look at this shot; by accident or design you get some nice, big and soft light, while its background’s exposure has gone greyer due to not too bright lighting in general.
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
So I am now getting a shadow, but it’s very soft – almost Rembrandt-esque in style – so I will tighten this more around her and wrap her more closely. Now you’re seeing something entirely different than those high key portraits; and I really do like how this looks. Now, what I plan to do is increase power until my background becomes fully white again.
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
So we got one look, which we sort of experimented with a happy accident and had that gray background pop up unexpectedly. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Now we’re going to add something extra with beauty portraits but with an unexpected element added in– we have a flower we want to work into her hair, soft light background and high key lighting and see where that takes us!
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Beauty light tends to be very evenly lit with little directional light. Though we use soft light, there isn’t usually two lights set up as much beauty photographers prefer this approach – which often results in no shadowing at all. I made the creative decision not to have two lights for our beauty portrait; rather I wanted dimension on her and thus wanted just one light that hit her from above and wrapped around her face, yet went into shadow; therefore we have the reflector pushing in some extra light; not much, just so there won’t be too much shadowing and this light setup would give us just this opposite look
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
All right, everyone. That is it for today. Tell us in the comments which soft light beauty portrait was your favorite in soft lighting portraiture. Remembering how easy it is, soft lighting portraiture just involves placing a big light source near your subject – for beauty shots we usually focus on tighter shots with jewelry, hairpiece, lipstick or eye makeup and such things; or if you are wedding or boudoir photographer using close up photography to highlight details with big, soft light – so keep that in mind as we continue with more videos next week! We hope you enjoyed today – see you soon in video number 2!
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100
Settings: f/11 @ 1/200, ISO 100