Steve Paxton

I had a senior portrait session today and thought I would share two images that shows the difference adding a second (accent) light can make. The first shot is lit by a single strobe bounced into an umbrella camera right (at a 45-degree angle to the client). The second image includes a second light being fired through a snoot, camera left, almost perpendicular to my client and raised nearly 10-feet up. Both images were taken in the shade.

In this case, an accent/hair light makes a pretty big difference - especially since my client has extremely dark hair and the background is dark. The hair light also picked up the purple highlights in her hair. I love it!



Accent lighting isn't quite as critical in this second set, but it definitely helps create definition around her head.



Sometimes it's the little details that help make a set of images pop!