Adding a second flash - studio lighting beginners' guide

We have seen that by lighting from the side we can make a subject look more three dimensional in our first guide here. But to add that extra depth to the photograph, we should unpack the second head.

For a more natural look a white brolly can be used, or, softer still a white translucent one. The translucent brolly can be used in two ways. Either in “shoot through” or reflective modes. Shooting through a brolly is very efficient so very little light is lost.

To give good separation between your subject and the background a second light can be used in two ways. To light the background or to back-light the subject. We have, however, to be careful that the light from the second head goes where we want it to! By fitting a snoot or a honeycomb to the head we can control where the light falls.

In the example above you can see how a splash of light on the background livens the whole picture up and gives more depth.

Now let’s turn the second light around and backlight Laura.

You can see how a little light from behind gives separation from the background and brings the hair to life showing its true texture and colour.

Hair absorbs light and can look very dull if not lit. The splash of light over Laura’s left shoulder emphases the fact that she is three dimensional. It is important not to have the hair light too powerful, especially on blonde hair as it will easily burn out.

A quarter to half a stop more than the main exposure will give a good result with blonde hair, going up to a full stop for black hair.

Of course if you have a third light you can light the background as well or you can back-light from both sides!