David and I combine photography and set design, building a new set for each of our shoots. When it comes to our personal projects, we love creating conceptual images that use lighting, posing, color, and set design to tell a story.
One of the lighting tools we use in many of our shoots is V-Flats to fine-tune and direct the lighting in the studio. So when V-Flat World asked if they could document a behind-the-scenes look at one of our shoots, we were really excited - but also a little nervous.
David and I capture tons of content at all of our shoots, but we always do it ourselves. I wasn't sure what it would be like to have someone else documet us or how that would impact the flow of the shoot.
VFlat sent their videographer, Sam, to film one of our personal projects, a minimalist set designed to allow for lots of posing variations and beautiful bodyscapes.
The Set Design
Since this was just a personal project, decided to create a minimalistic set that allowed for lots of posing variations and beautiful bodyscapes.
We painted the set a deep shade of purple that perfectly matched our model’s outfit. I love a monochromatic shoot because it draws all the attention to the subject, creating more impact. Plus, it’s such a simple way to achieve a highly stylized or surreal look.
David designed the set as a U-shape, using three walls and a floating bench for the model to sit and pose on. If you want to learn how to build a set of your own, check out David's Beginner Set Building Course, where he teaches how to build a box photo set step by step.
I love when we build sets like this because they allow for so much pose variation. The model can push against the walls and really interact with the space, creating some incredibly dynamic and interesting poses.
The Lighting Setup
For this shoot, we wanted a moody lighting setup. We’ve been loving continuous light lately, so we lit the set using two Nanlite FC 120Cs.
- One was bare-bulbed into the white side of a V-Flat to add soft fill to our model.
- Another V-Flat was positioned on the opposite side, with the black side facing the model, creating negative fill for a more dramatic effect.
- The second FC 120C was mounted from the top of the set, shining down to light the back wall.
The Concept
If you’ve read our Conceptual Photoshoot Guide, you know that one of the ways we create more impactful photos is by developing a storyline for every shoot.
For this one, David designed the floating bench and positioned it so that our model’s feet couldn’t touch the ground when sitting on it. This sparked an idea:
The shoot would explore the balance between trust and fear—how hard it can be to let go of uncertainty. We all try so hard to hold onto things when, sometimes, the real answer is to release control.
We ran with this concept, using it to guide the posing and direction of the shoot. I used posing prompts to bring out authentic emotion in our model, Hannah. We started with her safely seated on the bench, then gradually adjusted her positioning—eventually, she was gripping onto it for dear life, slipping off, and finally landing on the floor.
How Filming Changed The Shoot:
V-Flat World sent their insanely talented videographer, Sam, to film the shoot. We've worked with Sam before—he filmed the set design episode we did for Lindsay Adler's Learn Plus a few months ago.
Sam had a clear vision for how he wanted to film the video, which was really helpful. I started photographing the shoot as I normally do, and every few poses, we would pause to capture b-roll footage by recreating the poses specifically for the video. He prompted David and me with questions but also gave us space to create and do what we needed to do.
It felt amazing to have someone direct me for a change—it brought a new energy to the shoot.
Seeing David and me in action, creating and working together, was a pretty cool experience.
I absolutely loved how all the elements of this shoot came together to tell a story—from the deep purple color choice to the moody lighting to the posing. The narrative really came through.
Make sure to watch the video for a full behind-the-scenes look at how we lit and directed the shoot firsthand. V-Flat World did an amazing job capturing the entire process!
