I don’t know about you, but I love learning how other photographers work. From their lighting setup to post processing tips, I find it intriguing.

Heck, I find it downright fascinating!

You can only deconstruct an image so far without talking to the photographer who made it. Until you do, it’s speculation (even if it’s educated speculation).

So let’s remove all doubt and enjoy the recipes for a few recent images I’ve received questions about.

All Photos © Ryan Klos

Holmes

Equipment

• Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm; 1/125 @ f/5.6; ISO 100
• Beauty dish and small softbox

Setup

• Beauty dish at camera right above and pointing at model, about two feet away
• Small soft box behind the model outside of the frame at camera left (pointing directly across the frame left to right) to light the background and add separation between model and background

Moto

Equipment:

• Canon 30D, 28-70mm; 1/125 @ f/11; ISO 100
• 2 medium soft boxes

Setup

• One medium soft box on either side of the frame pointing at each other, about 10 feet apart
• Shot in the middle of the day

Senior on Stairs

Equipment

• Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm; 1/160@ f/3.2; ISO 200
• Natural light with reflector

Setup

• All natural sunlight coming from camera left (about 6:30 pm)
• The building reflected some light at the camera and then we used a silver Calumet Zipdisc at immediate camera left to bounce it back in

Model Black & White

Equipment

• Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm; 1/125 @ f/5.6; ISO 100
• 1 six-foot soft box, 1 6×4′ silver reflector panel

Setup

• Six-foot soft box at camera right about 4 feet away from model
• Large 6×4′ silver panel reflector just outside the frame at camera left for fill

Girl on Engine

Equipment

• Canon 5D Mark II, 85mm; 1/125 @ f/5.6; ISO 100
• 1 large soft box, one umbrella

Setup

• Soft box is several feet behind the model at camera left, pointing at her
• At camera right is a 32″ shoot through umbrella pointing down on the model, about 3 feet away