Head and shoulder 1 light setup choice

I will be taking some head and shoulder shots this afternoon. I have one strobe that I will use as the main light. I have a speedlite (cant do off camera with it) and a reflector with me. Should I use the reflector or the flash as my fill?

Stefan

Either will do although you might find it easier to control the amount of fill by using the on camera flash. The fill flash may also add specular highlights (reflections) which may be (i.e. catlight in eyes) or may not be (i.e. reflections off eyeglasses or moist skin) desirable.

Use the reflector if you can. Nice way to fill shadows.

The lighting exercise page on my tutorial site describes how I use a flash and reflector to emulate north window light. It shows Speedlites but the principle is the same with monolight(s).

Thanks. i ended up using the reflector and that was fine.

Stefan

I think too many people are caught up in using multiple lights. There's nothing wrong with it but it's far from necessary.

One of my favorite setups for a variety of styles is to use a large diffused light source for the main light and a white or silver reflector for fill depending on the look I want.

Reflectors are powerful modifiers.

Yeah, that's what I did. Only I didn't drag my huge diffusion panel. Just used an umbrella.

Stefan

TMR Design wrote in post #10091757
I think too many people are caught up in using multiple lights. There's nothing wrong with it but it's far from necessary.

One of my favorite setups for a variety of styles is to use a large diffused light source for the main light and a white or silver reflector for fill depending on the look I want.

Reflectors are powerful modifiers.

Agree.

Also with a single light and reflectors the inexperienced are less likely to create distracting shadows with additional lights.