Note: Many of the lighting estimates offered by the forum members were very close!
Here is my lighting diagram (Andy Art Warning)
I only used 2 lights and a reflector for this portrait. A large softbox (60x40 inches) provided the main light and a second monolight mounted on a boom using a fine grid was used for the hairlight.
The mainlight metered at f9.5 and I adjusted the hair light to one stop less than than to ensure that I wasn't making specular highlights in the hair.
When setting up the main light I look for 2 things - the lighting pattern (in this case I wanted to use a modified loop pattern) and the I look for how well the eyes are lighted. I will ALWAYS sacrifice the lighting pattern for properly lighting the eyes on subjects that have prominent brows or deep set eyes.
I also feathered the main light to provide a little light on the background and keep it from totally going black.
I used the hairlight to highlight the backside of the subject on the light side of the frame to provide a little more separation from the background.
The fill was provided entirely by a silver/gold reflector. I adjust this by moving the reflector closer to the subject until I see the lighting ratio I am going for.
It is a pretty simple low key setup.
The reason I am posting this is kind of prompted by firedogg's statement on another thread about learning to use one light well before going on and adding more lights. By knowing your equipment and understanding it's limitations, you can make good portraits without breaking the bank on equipment and making do with what you have. I would be willing to do this with other examples and setups if there is interest.
Andy Seynaeve
