[Karin Wells]

Here is some additional info. on how I shoot a subject. Right now I am using a white umbrella to bounce a softer and more gentle wraparound light onto the subject. Please understand that all this is experimental, but at the moment this seems to work OK.

Set your umbrella at a 45 degree angle from your subject and position the umbrella so you get light in both eyes.

The light source should be about 3 or 4 feet from the subject. I usually have the light 12" to 18" above the model's head. Be sure to have the camera lens at the model's eye level.

I don't shoot in a dark room, but the lights are low enough so that it would be difficult to read a book with small type.

Now here is the part you have to play with: with the light pointed into the white umbrella (away from the subject) I adjust it so that the light it casts just catches the subject with the outer (back) edge (i.e., the path of light is mostly in front of the subject - falling between the model and the camera).

In this position, I try to aim the light directly at the top of the head or the forehead. This position seems to help the light "wash" down the figure and give the picture "atmosphere".

I plug my Paul C. Buff lights directly into my camera. Then I set the aperture somewhere between 8 and 11 depending on how sharp I want the background in focus