Photography Lighting Techniques: Building Blocks - Step-by-Step Creative Portraits with Jake Hicks

Photography lighting techniques: Building Blocks - Step-by-Step Creative Portraits with Jake Hicks.
TeamBowens photographer and lighting educator Jake Hicks guides us step-by-step through a creative portrait shoot. In this tutorial Jake uses a 21" Beauty Dish, Lumiair 60x80cm Softbox plus Maxilite Reflectors fitted with Grids and Gels for lighting control.
Jake explains in detail each part of his lighting setup and describes how and why he uses each light shaper in this set-up.
See more photography lighting techniques at / bowenstv or www.bowens.tv
More lighting tutorials can be seen at www.teambowens.com
Find out more about the lighting used in this video at www.bowensdirec...
We love your comments! Let us know what you think below. If there is a photography lighting technique you would like us to cover in a video - just ask in the comments and we will try to make it happen :)
Thanks for watching.

[@justcallmesando]

This teaching method is THE BEST. Seeing what every light does step by step is just pure gold.

[@josephchan4198]

I am glad they have these videos that you can use today or refresher course for fun.

[@ritaars7216]

I'm learning to speak english because one of my dreams is going to your workshops...you're an amazing photographer and teacher, thanks for being an inspiration Jake!

[@HasanNYC]

This is probably one of the best lighting tutorial posted this year.

[@cindyholderphotography9078]

He’s the best. 🙏🏽

[@bendabiri2967]

you post the best lighting tutorials on youtube so far . keep it up

[@bowtiecigars]

Dude...this is a really great tutorial!!!!!!! The best I've seen, explaining gel use! Wonderful job! Thx!!! Bowtie.

[@Grobar4ever92]

Wow, I've been using clamshell for two years now, never came to my mind to put a back-light to separate the subject. Great work, hope to see a lot more from you Jake! Thanks!

[@forumhound]

Excellent tutorial with a fantastic final image.

[@andrefelixstudio2833]

Nice job Jake you know your stuff and the video has great production value, great butterfly light on the model!

[@ocenapothik2633]

Awesome video Jake. More Please.

[@fg1110]

Clam shell ( key and fill) River cop( edge lighting). Great tutorial!!

[@pigsflynews]

Simple, concise brilliantly informative. Thanks

[@taneshacoley5949]

Best lightning video I have seen so far. Find it very interesting and informative even as a makeup artist it's good to know just a little bit more. Learnt something new. Thank you for sharing. 😊

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

+Tanesha Coley Thanks Tanesha glad you found it useful as an MUA and I'm glad you learnt something new :)

[@LSD_NYC]

You light beautifully Jake! I can't wait to test out some of your techniques.

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thank you Rock, good luck :)

[@Agnivolok1]

Realy great tutorial! So calm clear and informative. Thanks Jake

[@dreadnoughtphotowerkz]

This is great info if you have a large studio and can afford all of those lights.

[@Napoleon-Blownapart]

Great video, more Jake please.

[@pscully1969]

Great setup! The color gels give a "Nightclub" effect. Cool!

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thank you, glad you like it.

[@jakemroks12]

Wow! This was absolutely incredible! I learned so much in this video. Amazing pictures too!

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thank you, glad you found it useful :)

[@dreamchaser7554]

very detail and knowledgeable presentation

[@bebitonenita65]

Wow speechless great tutorial

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Cheers Robert

[@KYY24ProjectOfficial]

This is really amazing video :) keep the good job

[@thehov1020]

A great look into your work flow!

[@mcbphoto2011]

very good

[@mikefailla5006]

Amazing. Please make more!

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thanks Mike

[@elisfrigini8064]

Amazing!!! Thanks for share!

[@MsTiaDGB]

incredible! I learned so much

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thanks Tia, glad you found it useful.

[@SimonAndersonphotography]

Great video and set up

[@DiviPhotos]

great video

[@NikolayMirchev]

Cool lighting setup!!!

[@shawncarter3912]

wow, russell brand really seems to know his stuff.

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

He's looking younger and younger all the time too ;)

[@ITR0287]

love this tutorial Jake :-)

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thanks Koen

[@himanshsharma1049]

Love your work 👍🏻

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Thank you.

[@isidrebernetcasas1576]

Thanks for this video, it's interesting !!!

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

No worries, glad you like it

[@serhiyprylutskyy9058]

you are guys super! I use your equipment already 4 years. will you participate on an WPPI exhibition 2016 in Las Vegas?

[@RobJorg]

i enjoyed that video.

[@77dris]

I love the effect of the diffusion filter. Any recommendations on types?

[@mustafazafarullah1893]

Excellent tutorial. Could you also please tell us the camera settings?

[@misterpogiako]

amazing photo despite on a Nikkor 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5D

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Hahahaah thank you and yeah I know right?! To be fair that lens shouldn't be as good as it is. In fact I was so sure I couldn't be right I compared it to the newer 24-70 2.8 and wrote a review. You'd be surprised at the results. For £150 now thats a stupidly good lens.

[@Marckymarc71]

Actually he's using the 28-105 AF-D Macro lens. I've got one and can tell you it's VERY sharp at f/4 and razor sharp at f/5.6 up to 85mm.

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Yeah that lens is stupidly good for the price!

[@kittran779]

thank you, great tutorial. what lense would you recommend for canon to achieve similar results?

[@Fotopelon35]

Crack !!!! Eres un crack

[@kochavigivoni5814]

Thank you for Schering

[@lenp00]

Excellent tutorial! I would love to try this at home, as you mentioned. Perhaps you could demonstrate that without using thousands of dollars worth of kit?

[@benhurbogi6588]

Hi Jake Benhur here from India the highlight system is amazing. have you got it custom made?

[@TheTitan2025]

What's the name of the song in the background and at 10:36

[@effectnayatube]

Hi! Really love the video and u explain so nice was pleasure to watch it. I have a question is it possible to use diffusion filter instead of lens?

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

You have to use the diffusion filter in conjunction with the lens.

[@dario4life]

very nice. also whats the song called? shazam says it's one, that was just released this month.

[@digitalmarketing531]

Any ideas on the f stop and shutter speed?

[@AANasseh]

Awesome lighting tutorial. But please gel the Key light on Jake! His skin tone is terrible (gray/green). I'm sure he's not sick or a vampire. Should match the models! ;) Thanks for these videos! Very helpful!

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Hahahahah yeah I take no responsibility for the video lighting I just stick to the stills ;)

[@iarneson814]

Do you always meter your key light even with 4 lights and gels?

[@kochavigivoni5814]

Sharing

[@darrylroberts6546]

Hi, what's the eye glider you're speaking of?

[@theroyalmob]

are the images straight out the camera?

[@AllanForbes]

Hi, can you please supply more information on the diffusion filter please, can't seem to track it online. Thanks

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Hiya Allan, apologies for the delay but this isn't my channel so I don't get notified of comments. I currently use LEE Filters 'Soft' filters.

[@lashknife01]

Hi Jake. Does the filter degrade the sharpness of the models face? Or is it a worthwhile trade off to achieve the effect. Your vids are always so informative. Thanks you so much for sharing.

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Yes it definitely does. I'm totally fine with it but you just need to come to terms with it and let go of the fact that sharpness isn't everything when it comes to photography. I recommend you risk it and see you if like it but to me the sacrifice in sharpness far outweighs the result compared to 'faking' it in photoshop for example ;) Please don't go down that slippery slope to 'digital art' :D

[@spakadigital]

Hi, this is sort of off the topic of the video, but...could you kindly provide me with the title of the music in the background. If it is unreleased, could you provide me with a link to download it. Thanks in advance

[@avrumieklein1369]

I'm using a Tiffen diffusion lens filter. It's not doing the job for some reason

[@anthonyvernolini6633]

did you put the diffuser on the lensbaby.

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Hiya Anthony, yes I just held it in front of the lensbaby by hand

[@anthonyvernolini6633]

Cheers Jake, your a star.

[@MORTYNOW]

what is the ratio of the key light to the clamshell fill light below?

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

This is totally up to you. Some people like more fill light than others. I prefer a little more light than most for the fill as I know I'll be adding a lot of contrast in post so I don't want to clip the blacks anywhere when I do.

[@yoyoz333]

what was the diffusion filter that you used?

[@avrumieklein1369]

yomega brain when you find out, plz let us know!😊

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Not sure what that one is but the one I'm currently using is the LEE 'Soft' filter number 2.

[@emmanuelawa1751]

Hi Jake, can you please post a link to the filter? I cannot find this any LEE Soft diffusion filters.

[@linusfotograf]

I’ll steal some ideas from this but I will skip the lens flare and the blurred look. Love this guy’s work in general though.

[@216kingDavid1]

are the back lights strobes or continuous?

[@bowenstv]

Hi David, all lights used are strobes :)

[@gurudeclan]

Dang

[@avrumieklein1369]

What diffusion filter?

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

Not sure what that one is but the one I'm currently using is the LEE 'Soft' filter number 2.

[@ValiCiobanu]

Would you be kind enough to put a link to the LEE 'Soft' filter number 2 you're using now? Thanks. You rock :)

[@arbb6850]

Too bad you blurred her skin out of existence in post.

[@angelobarrera41]

I love your lighting techniques but personally, I think it's over processed. I love to just see the photos taken without photoshop intervention.

[@philipjacob5878]

What lens you used? and what is the filter?

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

I used the Lensbaby Composer Pro 50 for the blurring you see here, no filters :)

[@mateuszpawlik5193]

+Jake Hicks at 7:46 you have mentioned that you are using diffusion filter. What brand and model was it?

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

I just use a generic no-brand one, nothing expensive :)

[@ptortora1]

Seems like Tiffen makes a gold and black and they come in different strengths. Any clarification on which yours is? Great video by the way. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@mateuszpawlik5193]

My Formatt-Hitech filter named Movie Mist Black 1 gives exactly the same effect. And it is also useful if you want to reduce a contrast.

[@TFLSTUDIO88]

Awesome video! Great techniques. Beautiful Model. Terrible speaking voice. Haha.

[@eezdva]

Great video setup wise but what happened to the post processing . I mean she is a beautiful girl but she looked so unnatural in the end. The skin. Ouch.

[@77dris]

I really loved the look!

[@Fontanat]

Who's the model? For scientific purposes of course.

[@JakeHicksPhotography]

The models name is Yazzmin Newell

[@smirnovvalera]

Чё, из России я один только такой крутой и смотрю Джейка Воробья? :)) хе-хе

[@lalystar4230]

honestly, skip the lensbaby, or have it less tilted for a slightly less pronounced effect, to me it's actually very distracting, pulling my eyes away from the models face, instead of putting the focus on her face. everything else is awesome!

[@EdwardKilner]

Way too much talking before showing that series of photos near the end. Then, they went by too fast and at least two at a time should have been shown so we could see the progression.

[@ashersidimodels]

-love from Israel ……. asher_sidi_models

[@eddiealonzo4173]

Why do I feel like this guy is trying to hard to film this. Seems like he’s trying to get a role in Hollywood.