Mahogany | Beauty Lighting Study
I got a chance to work with Mahogany Wade, someone I’ve been dying to create something with for a long time.
With this shoot I sought to study the effect of three different types of lighting for beauty and see how they affected the overall mood of the set.
Gear Used
- Nikon D750
- Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art
- Kenko Extension Tubes (only used 12mm)
- Godox AD600Pro
- Godox AD200
- Westcott 7ft Umbrella White & Diffusion
- Impact 28" Folding Beauty Dish & Diffusion
- Black Foamcore board
- An electric fan (for a little movement)
1. Soft Light using strobe
The idea here was to use my strobes to give an airy soft lighting that, in combination with a shallow depth of field, would provide a subtle dreamy look with cozy catchlights to highlight Mahogany’s powerful expressions.
Tech Specs:
F2.8 || 1/200s || ISO 50
The setup wasn’t complicated.
We had the Godox AD200 with a diffused 7ft Westcott umbrella 45° above right, the Godox AD600Pro with a diffused Impact beauty dish 45° below left, and a negative fill to the left.
The AD200 was the key light providing a soft broad light from above and the AD600 gave a slightly contrasty fill from below. The negative fill absorbed some of the light coming to the left side of her to provide a little more depth.
I also took some time to get even tighter using my extension tube since the 85mm doesn’t focus that close at all.
The result is simply angelic.
2. Hard Light using strobe
Tech Specs:
F9 || 1/200s || ISO 50
This second look was all about skin detail, but was still fairly similar to the first.
The positioning was all the same as before, but the lights were switched.
AD600Pro +beauty dish without diffusion above right and AD200 + diffused umbrella below left. We also applied a bit of olive oil sheen to Mahogany’s skin to give some glimmer.
Now, the AD600 was the key light with the AD200 very softly filling some shadows, all while the negative fill brought down illumination on that side altogether. We stopped down to F9 to allow for more detail.
The result is a more dramatic look dancing along the line between soft and hard light.
3. Natural Light
Now this look isn’t strobe-based. Just pure window light. Because it works.
But just in case you’d still like a diagram, here you go.
The sun was high in the sky, so there wasn’t much direct light coming; but it was still a nice, warm, beautiful wrap-around lighting. For part of this lighting, I shot at a slower shutter speed to get some slight motion from the fan blowing through her hair; then I cranked it up afterwards.
Tech Specs:
F2 || 1/50s || ISO 50
Tech Specs:
F2 || 1/160s || ISO 100
Overall, I love how every single shot turned out. The editing process was simple and natural with minimal retouching. The shoot itself was incredibly fun and Mahogany was wonderful to work with.
I hope this breakdown was helpful in providing some ideas for your future shoot concepts.
