How To Create a Theatrical Portrait Photoshoot Using a Spotlight

We've been wanting to use continuous light in our shoots for a while, and we finally got our hands on a Nanlite spotlight! David has a background in building theater sets, so we knew we wanted to reference a stage in this shoot and take some very theatrical portraits. We built a modular set out of wood and picked up some red fabric to create a DIY theatre curtain using a staple gun. It was super simple—we just folded the fabric over itself to create pleats and did it all by eye.

Once the set was finished, we lit it using a three-light setup. We used a Nanlite Forza 500B II with a Nanlite PJ-BM Projection Attachment as the key light and two Nanlite PavoSlims for fill.

The lighting blew us away. It was so dramatic, and the setup was relatively simple.

Conceptual portraits need a narrative and a story. The concept of the shoot was putting female sexuality on display and making a spectacle out of it. We played through so many poses and really explored both the positive and negative sides of that.

Here’s a breakdown of all the gear we used in the shoot:

• Nanlite PavoSlim 120B
• Nanlite PavoSlim 60C
• Nanlite PJ-BM Projection Attachment
• Nanlite Forza 500B II
• Tether Tools

Check out our Patreon to view all the photos from the shoot!