Still Looking for that Pro Look on Portraits :(

[Colin Southern]

The eyes in this case are so photoshopped I have no idea what's there?
Colin, could you elaborate on the lighting?

Basically, he's just used a big softbox. Technically what he's done is very simple -- what makes the results so outstanding is his setting up of the shot (clothing / background / expression / pose etc) and some very competant retouching (to compliment what I have no doubt were technically very good captures).

[speedneeder]

Sounds about right to me.

[vladimir]

He, actually, tells A LOT about his lighting in a blog. Just found it here.
Softbox, reflector, grid and background. Pretty simple, yep.

[speedneeder]

Neat blog Vladimir.
FYI, I do not think the lighting setup you describe is the one used for the red hat photo.

[vladimir]

I do not think the lighting setup you describe is the one used for the red hat photo.

Why not?
I think that's the one. For two reasons:
1. The photos are somewhat similar. (Love them both!)
2. I thought it was something like that from the beginning. I wasn't sure of course (and still can't be sure), but the reason I thought so was that girl's back would've been much darker if not for the reflector behind her back, and the background seems to be lit by a separate source, making it lighter behind the girl and darker to the periphery of the picture.

P.S. Just to make it simpler to find out what we are talking about - the links to two pictures are here and here

[speedneeder]

My mistake, I had just looked at retro girl when I typed that

[Gazza]

Thanks everybody, although I didn't con tribute I have definitely picked up from your experience. That's what this is all about.

[speedneeder]

Yes Gazza, that is the point!