Exploring how to intentionally push your creative limits can dramatically improve your portrait photography. Whether you're seasoned or starting out, understanding how to control lighting effectively shapes your style and widens your capabilities on set.
Coming to you from Ian Spanier with Westcott, this practical video demonstrates how Spanier replicated a motorcycle rider portrait series originally shot during COVID, but this time with fewer limitations. Spanier initially crafted his portraits in a tight living-room space, dealing with restrictive ceiling heights and modest lighting gear. Despite these constraints, he achieved a strong aesthetic through careful manipulation of light ratios and positioning. Now, in a spacious studio setting, Spanier walks you through his updated approach, clearly explaining each lighting decision and how this impacts the overall image. You'll see how he uses a four-light setup with specific modifiers and carefully adjusted ratios to achieve depth and dimensionality—without relying on overly technical jargon or complicated setups.
Spanier emphasizes the value of challenging yourself creatively, especially when working in familiar environments. For this shoot, he deliberately stepped away from his usual aperture range, moving from f/7.1 up to f/16 or f/22, aiming for a deeper depth of field to capture more detailed, dynamic portraits. He demonstrates how precise adjustments—like managing the key-to-fill ratio or slightly repositioning lights to avoid unwanted spill—can significantly refine your images. Spanier’s explanations are straightforward and practical, underscoring the importance of adapting lighting techniques to fit varying creative intentions and client needs. His examples clearly illustrate how controlled experimentation expands your visual vocabulary, giving you additional options when approaching portraits.
An especially helpful part of the video focuses on troubleshooting common lighting issues. Spanier illustrates how to address subtle but impactful problems, such as unwanted shadows or inconsistent exposure across your background. His solution involves careful tweaking of lighting angles, positioning flags, or adjusting power settings slightly rather than starting from scratch. He also shows how he transfers setups between vastly different spaces—like moving from an indoor home studio to an outdoor environment—while keeping the essential character of the lighting intact. This adaptability ensures consistency across your work, especially beneficial for longer-term personal projects or recurring client shoots.
Spanier goes beyond simple instruction, providing thoughtful advice on why it’s crucial to document your lighting setups in detail. He shares that meticulous notes and clear documentation help him reliably replicate lighting conditions months or even years apart. This disciplined practice enables him to maintain coherence in projects, even when external conditions vary widely. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Spanier.
If you would like to continue learning about how to light a portrait, be sure to check out "Illuminating The Face: Lighting for Headshots and Portraits With Peter Hurley!"
