Lighting tips by Celebrity Portrait Photographer Brian Smith

Last fall I had a chance to sit down with celebrity portrait photographer Brian Smith who gave us some great tips in his video, be sure to catch it. Here’s a few key words on the importance of starting with the foundation of lighting.

Marc: What are some of the key things that you use every time you pick up a camera or even before you pick one up?

Brian: Well I think what I try to do, before we even bring the subject in, before we get a camera, I always start with lightning. That’s your foundation. Get the light as close to what you’re going to expect with the person, so really all you’re going to have to do is fine tune it. If you create this situation where somebody can walk into a situation that’s beautifully lit, they look great, suddenly they’re at ease. Because one of the first things that they do — subjects that have been in front of the camera a lot generally know when the lightning is good. You want that just not to be a concern. You want all of the technical aspects to kind of fade into the background and to have it just be about them.

Marc: Any nuts and bolts lighting tips?

Brian: Well I always start with a single light source. A lot of times if I’m doing an environmental portrait it’s a single light source that’s augmented by the available light. It’s like an ambient fill and a light on the subject, then being able to light every situation gives you the control of putting the sun where you want it. Sometimes I might want to vary a natural soft look, other times I want to chisel the light so that it’s very dramatic and almost like you’re lighting a sculpture in a museum. So I think a lot of that goes in terms of you have all these options for what is going to work best with your subject.

Watch our Video and check out Brian Smith’s Art & Soul: Stars Unite to Celebrate and Support the Arts