"Place your light here, set it to 5, put up this background, point your second light at it, set it to 2, pick up your camera, set it to 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO100, sit your subject at a 45° angle, bend the elbows, one ankle crossed over the other, masculine pose: head separates from shoulder, feminine pose: shoulder comes up, head moves down, eyes? Eyes centered in the sockets. Make sure there are catchlights…"
We've all been there when we start – shooting by numbers. Do as you're told, and it will work. And let's face it, this beautiful craft of ours is as technical as it is creative – for most of us, that's the utter beauty of it. But somewhere along the line in our industry, the 'what' (the do this, do that) seems to take over the sheer joy of imagining and creating an image.
