How to… Create a pro-looking model shot

From shooting to post-processing, we’ve got it covered

A great portrait starts with a great shot – and lighting is a critical element in achieving this. That’s why this issue, we’ve given you a giant poster guide to lighting, with 24 set-ups you can reproduce with basic home studio gear. Each set-up offers an equipment list, notes, a diagram and a photo of the result you’re aiming to get. Combine your poster with our 10 free Lightroom portrait presets on this issue’s disc, and you’ve got everything you need to take better portraits.

The butterfly effect

For this set-up we used the ‘butterfly’ lighting technique, with one light and a 20-inch softbox positioned above and in front of the model. (See your free poster for more.) Set the your SLR to Manual when using studio lights. We used f/11 at 1/125 sec and a prime 85mm f2/8 lens, which is lovely for portraits.

Retouch the face

Use Photoshop to remove major spots with the Healing tool. Next, duplicate the layer and invert it. Set the blending mode to Linear Light and add a High Pass filter, then a Gaussian Blur. Add a layer mask and invert it so it’s black. Now apply a white brush to the mask to smooth out skin where needed.

Get creative

To help create mood and atmosphere, we’ve opened our image in Lightroom and applied the Modern Vignette preset that you can install from this issue’s disc. Using a preset is a great way to quickly add an effect quickly, which can then be further tweaked in the Develop module.