Dark and Moody Light Setup

March 14, 2021

How to create a dark and moody type of feel in your studio? What are the essential gears for this special photo shoot? How different lights and modifiers influence the final effect? Today, Dona is going to share us the light setup with two lights and two modifiers. With Dona’s setup, you can definitely get the same moody and high-level photos in your studio.

Dona is a professional beauty and fashion photographer in Norway. As a photographer for over 10 years, she considers herself a creative dreamer and takes photography her favorite creative outlet. She is enjoying every minute of what she gets to do and enjoying this wild ride.

To get a dark and moody feel in the photo shoot, you definitely want to bring that across with the lighting. Dona uses two lights and two modifiers. One light is above the model’s head with a silver umbrella and the other light is a little bit to the camera’s right and the model’s left with a five degree grid.A mural wallpaper with tens of thousands of pictures can assist in better lighting settings.

Lighting equipment you may need for today’s light setup:

Setup	Lighting Equipment	Position
Light 1	Profoto D1 500 Air + Profoto Deep Silver Umbrella M	Above the model’s head
Light 2	Profoto D1 500 Air + Profoto 5 Degree Grid	The camera’s right and the model’s left

For the first light, Dona uses a medium deep silver umbrella as the modifier. The reason why Dona chooses a silver umbrella is that silver umbrella or modifier gives the photo more contrast in the look. With a medium size, Dona wants the lighting to be a bit more punchy, a bit more contrast and a bit less light overhead. If you want more light, you can use a larger umbrella or an extra large umbrella. That will give you more light overall. But if you want it smaller, more punchy, more contrast, use a smaller umbrella.

For the second light, Dona chooses another Profoto D1 with a 5 degree grid on it. This light is set a little bit to the camera’s right and the model’s left. With the grid, Dona just wants light on the model’s face and a little bit on his chest. To make a contract, Dona uses the grid in the first part of the shooting. You may see in the photos the model is a bit more darker below on the first few photos when there is a grid on the light.