6 simple lighting setups for shooting portraits at home (plus free cheat sheet)

Lighting Setup 5: Low contrast light at 45 degrees with a reflector

Lighting Setup 5: Low contrast light at 45 degrees with a reflector

With the addition of a diffuser in the shape of an opaque umbrella, this kind of main light is much lower contrast than the previous five examples.

This creates a bigger burst of softened flash, which makes this portrait much more evocative than descriptive.

To further weaken visible shadows, place a warm-coloured reflector near your subject's face.

An umbrella will create a similar effect to a softbox and can be partially obscured to give strips of light.