Did some in-studio shooting this weekend and used this easy wireless one-light setup to create some really dynamic portraits. Read on:

People have a tendency to think that shooting with a wireless setup is difficult or too complicated. While shooting wireless may add slightly to the complexity of the shoot, it can really enhance your images even to the point of producing work that would be impossible to replicate with natural light. Besides, your lighting setup doesn’t have to be very complicated to give you a great look. See the diagram below:

Very simple, very easy. Just place one light with a shoot-through umbrella about 3 ft. to the side of your subject, set your exposure and the light’s output setting, and your ready to go. A quick, easy way to greatly enhance the feel of your images. (For you technical types, I was using a 4 ft. white shoot-through umbrella raised slightly higher than my subject. My exposure settings were f4, 1/250, ISO 100; and the light’s output was set to 1/32)

Feel free to experiment with the light as well. Move it around, raise it up and down, increase or decrease the power output, just have fun. Learn what this tool can do, then run with it.

For more information on getting started with wireless lighting, check out this set of feeds; and, if you’re interested in creating lighting diagrams of your setups (like the one above), just follow this link here.