This lighting is a staple of mine and creates a beautiful, soft, glamour light that wraps around the face. Keeping the umbrella this close gives some fantastic highlights in the hair and a very bright, kick to the eyes.

Notice in the movie that the photographer moves in under the umbrella. It is placed between the photographer and the model, not behind the photographer. Booms are very important for this type of shot, but you can sneak under a stand-mounted light if you are careful.


Bright fill cards, shiny headshot table, very closely placed umbrella. Power is set to give the f-stop as deep as you want. With a speedlight (Vivitar 285HV or equiv), you could get this look at an f-stop of around 2.8 if you want that incredible DOF control.