About the image

This image is really special to me because up to this point, I had been using my ring light to only photograph headshots. It struck me one day, that I could also use this really simple, one light set up to create the soulful portraits that I truly love to make. I don’t use a ring light in the traditional way, (ie shooting through it). I treat it like an old Hollywood movie light. I position it slightly to the right or left of camera, and high enough to create catch lights in the upper third of my client’s eyes. The only other equipment I used is a small silver reflector to fill in shadows beneath the chin and a fan to blow hair. I painted the backdrop myself using house paints on a large piece of canvas that I rescued from a friend’s defunct studio that was headed for the trash.