Ever since I have been directed to the Strobist blog, I have made a conscious effort to improve my photographic art of portraiture. I have not been trying to emulate his style, but have been working to create my own style based on the example and illustrations he discusses and shows.

I asked my friend to sit for a few portraits so I could practise some of the ideas I have seen on Dave Hobby’s blog and flickr page. We had a great time having chats about arty stuff, photography, things.. A very relaxing time.

This portrait was shot against an off white wall. The purple glow was provided by a 430EX II fitted with a Speedlight Honeycomb snoot gelled Indigo pointed straight at the wall behind him. An SB24 through a shoot through umbrella was used to light his face. A silver reflector was placed camera left to lighten the shadows a little.

I needed to create quite a bit of distance between the umbrella and the wall so there was negligible light cast from the SB24 onto the wall.

After the portraits were taken I enjoyed the most amazing lemon Muffin made by my friend.. awesome!

Above are the set up and lighting diagram illustrations for the portrait..