Learning photography often involves trial and error. You can only capture great shots by first taking some terrible ones. I had a photoshoot with my younger brother on the same day that I bought the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G and my new speedlight, the Yongnuo YN560-IV speedlite.

I didn't consider the lighting, the pose, or my brother's position during the shoot. My goal was to achieve a shallow depth of field with a pleasing bokeh, so I positioned my brother away from the background and set my aperture to f/1.4. To avoid harsh shadows, I bounced the speedlight off the ceiling, which helped create a soft light around him.

I wasn't particularly fond of the images I took that night. However, after sorting through the photos on my computer, I discovered I had captured one that stood out. I hadn't noticed the background light creating a lovely vignette effect then. Additionally, another light above him provided a hair light, helping to separate him from the background. The speedlight produced a soft illumination that wrapped around him, and the reflected light from the speedlight on the mirror glass behind him added a glowing effect. Who would have thought this could happen?

Accidents can happen, but this one was truly remarkable.

The image below illustrates the locations of the lights in the scene

The Gear I Used

I hope you learned a lot from this blog. If you are interested in a one-on-one training session, drop me a direct message on my Instagram account.