The Spotlight Shoots

I know that spotlight shoots are popular, especially for birthday shoots. I have been asked to do them on a few occasions. And, while I am capable of it, and have all the needed equipment, I tend to decline. Why? That’s where we need to talk about hard light vs. soft light. Hard light has very crisp shadow edges, and the transition from shadow to highlight is very abrupt. Soft light has a more gradual transition from highlight to shadow. The larger the light source compared to the model, the softer the light will be. Hard light can be a great look for some things. But because it has such crisp shadows, it also shows every bit of texture on the skin. Every bump, every scar, every wrinkle. So what does this have to do with the spotlight shoots? The light source that creates that perfect circle of light is only about 3 inches in diameter. And it is usually shot from anywhere from 6-10 feet away. That makes it a very unforgiving light. This means either the person will likely not be happy with their pictures, or I will end up doing way more editing than I am comfortable doing. After all, I pride myself on keeping edits minimal and natural looking. But I assure you, if you let me light in a way that works for you, I can deliver you photos where you can proudly say “yes, that’s me” and you won’t have to wait around for a ton of edits!.