Article: How to Create a High-Key Portrait with Window Light and an LED
How to Create a High-Key Portrait with Window Light and an LED
In this video, our favorite fashion and beauty photographer, Lindsay Adler shows us how to get stunning high-key portraits using simple tools: natural window light, a continuous LED light, and a few key modifiers. Check out the video to see the full tutorial of how her setup is designed to make creating clean, glowing portraits accessible without a full studio setup. Here's a quick breakdown:
Gear and Settings
Lindsay keeps things simple with her Canon R5 and Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 lens. Shooting wide at f/1.8 to f/2.2 gives her that soft, glowing look while maintaining sharp focus on the subject’s eyes. The Canon R5’s eye-tracking autofocus ensures the eyes are perfectly in focus, even with a shallow depth of field, which is essential for beauty portraits.
Lighting Setup: Natural and Continuous
While there are many unique and effective beauty portrait lighting setups you can use, in this tutorial, Lindsay's going to focus on using natural window light. She positions her model in front of a large window, where the soft light wraps around her, creating flattering, even illumination. To enhance the overall effect and create the high-key portrait look, she adds a white V-Flat behind the subject. This reflects the light back onto the background, contributing to the clean, glowing look.
To ensure a pure white background, fill in shadows, and add dimension, Lindsay brings in a Flashpoint FV200 LED light. The continuous LED light matches the natural daylight perfectly, brightening the subject’s face without overpowering the softness of the window light.
Modifiers for Subtle Details
Lindsay finishes the setup with a silver reflector beneath the subject’s chin to create a little bit of clamshell lighting. This helps fill in any remaining shadows, particularly in the lower half of the face, and adds sparkle to the eyes, enhancing the portrait’s liveliness.
A Simple Approach to High-Key Photography
What makes this setup so effective is its simplicity. By combining natural light with just a few additional tools, Lindsay creates portraits that look high-end without needing a full studio setup. The key is knowing how to use what you have – natural light, a few modifiers, and the right gear – to create professional-quality high-key portraits.
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