Photographer Alicia Bonaterre (Trinidad)

For this shot, Alicia used a single strobe in a dish reflector from slightly to the left of her camera. The hard light provides a wonderful highlight on the models legs and sculpts her form well. Using a single hard light is not the easiest tool to work with. Hard lights can throw shadows from areas that are problematic (nose, lips, arms) but Alicia managed that well with a perfect pose, and the head position coming toward the flash direction. The angle of the face, being closely aligned with the flash creates a very small shadow from the nose, and wonderfully modeled cheeks.

Takeaways:

Careful placement of the hard light, as well as attention tot he pose can create a dramatic fashion portrait. Not all light has to be soft.

Assignment:

Shoot a one light, hard light portrait and pay careful attention to the placement of the light and the shadows that are created by it.

Small nose shadows can be OK in fashion/glamour, but watch out for arms and hands and strange areas of darkness that can fall across areas of the subject.