Here's How I Recreated This Dan Winters Portrait

[@andreipopovici]

One thing you may not have known about Dan Winters is that he's a huge fan of using a ring light as fill. If you check the light on the subject's ear and neck area (and squint a little), you'll notice it's not directional. That's likely because it comes from all around the lens, I'd say at least 1 stop below the key light? The large catchlight is also almost on-axis, looks like a fairly large and/or up-close octa, with the camera positioned right below. This leaves us with the key hard light, which is the one that's flagged. Tomo makes a good point below, the shadow projected by the frames and that of his head on his left shoulder point to a high angle. Adding the background light, that leaves us with a 4-light, 1-flag setup. I wonder how long it takes him to dial in everything, before the subject gets there 😱

[@andreipopovici]

I may be wrong in this case, he may have been using the octa as the only fill, instead of the ring light. But it's a similar look to other setups where the ring is obvious from the catchlight.

[@PeteCocoPhoto]

Thank you Andrei! I did hear about the ring light now that you mention it. I gotta give that a try. I think you are right about the 4 light setup. And yes I would be interested to see how long it takes for him to dial it all in too! I know it took us quite a while to make this one picture lol. Thanks for the comment!

[@josecolon8143]

Bravo, bravo, bravísimo 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Flagging is a very time consuming technique to learn 🥵. However, once you acquire the experience it becomes a breeze! 🎖🎖🎖

[@PeteCocoPhoto]

So true, my man!

[@kathealy60]

Pete - I found your site last night and have watched a couple of your videos already (thank you for all you share! I definitely subscribed!). This video is a testament to your tenacity and passion for portrait photography/lighting/editing! What patience you had re-creating the inspiration portrait. As a hobbyist who right now only shoots CrossFit photography - I found this a bit over my head but definitely quite intriguing. (And I am local to your area -- so love supporting local peeps!). Ever consider holding a class for local wanna-be photographers??

[@PeteCocoPhoto]

Thanks Kathleen! I appreciate the comment and kind words! Yes, I am planning some classes at my studio so stay tuned for information on that!

[@Enrique-the-photographer]

Great recreation (a lot of work) of the image.

[@PeteCocoPhoto]

Thanks, Enrique. It was a fun process to get there.

[@marceloleitejr]

Great video Pete. I’m a big fan of Dan’s work as well, I think he used a large beauty dish with a grid as key light and a ring flash just for accent and Maybe a background light in low power. As seen on this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqiokoxrachshdU

[@PeteCocoPhoto]

Dude! I can't thank you enough for sending me this video. Wow! So much to absorb there in those few minutes. So cool, and thanks for the setup info as well!!

[@tomobagaric3286]

Great, interesting video. However, I am not sure that the recreation was on point in terms of lights used. I emphasize words "not sure" so please do take my opinion too seriously. The way I see it, Mr. Winters definitely did a lot in post, including adding the vignette which is not circular, but instead it follows the silhouette of the subject. Also he pushed the shadows but that part is a given. Where I see the potential flaw in this recreation is that catch light in the original photograph relates to the fill light an NOT the key light, which is not visible here (as a catch light). The key light, which is pretty hard, perhaps a 7 inch reflector - is positioned even above the fill light, which is possibly 3 feet octagon closer to the subject, and the shadows of the glasses reveal its position. The flag is put somewhere half way between the key and the subject.

[@PeteCocoPhoto]

Thanks, Tomo. I think you might be right about the key light being above the eye and the catchlight being the fill. There is definitely more going on there than can be seen in the catchlights alone. I may try the hard key above/small octagon below as you suggest for the close key/fill. Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment!