Liz, a personal trainer in Minneapolis, recently contacted me to have some new headshots made for her business.  She wanted to emphasize her athleticism and strength in a studio look, and she was great fun to work with. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Since recently I’ve been asked about my studio set-up rather frequently, here’s some info for the photographers reading…

I made these photos with a traditional 3-light portrait setup using three Profoto Compact 600R studio lights on Liz:

• Main light in a 4×6′ Photoflex LightDome softbox, camera right
• Fill light in a 2×3′ Photoflex LightDome softbox, camera left
• Hair light in a small Photoflex Halfdome strip box with grid, behind and left, at lowest setting

I also added a Profoto Compact 300R with grid at low power to light the background (a 10′ white seamless) with fall-off.  And since I continue to be asked, these days I photograph in the studio primarily with the same gear I use for my nature and landscape photography – in this case, a Nikon D3 and 70-200 f/2.8VR lens.  (In the old days I primarily used 35mm gear in the field, and Rolleiflex 6000-series medium format SLRs in the studio; I do still have my favorite Rolleiflex, a 6001 Professional, but it hasn’t seen the light of…studio…in quite some time).  I use PocketWizard Plus II’s to control my Profoto Compacts, which all have built-in PocketWizards of their own (that’s the “R” in the model name – for Radio-controlled).

After we completed her personal training images, Liz asked if we could shoot some fashion in a dress her mom had recently sent her from Kenya.  Stay tuned for that…next post!