Photoberg LLC

Photoberg LLC Portrait Photographer in the DMV. I love lighting and sharing this knowledge with others!
(3)

09/06/2026

Another Yousuf Karsh portrait today! This is the world famous Roaring Lion portrait he took of Winston Churchill. My set up for this was just two constant lights and a softbox modifier for the key light. The shadows came out a bit too soft for my liking, but otherwise I like how it turned out.
If anyone wanted to join me in my workshop in Olten Switzerland at the IPFO, comment “Olten” and I’ll send you the details! We’re going to spend an entire day together and I can guarantee we will have fun and improve our portrait skills!
Camera:
Sony A7V
24-70mm at 70mm
ISO400, f/4, 1/80s
Zhiyun Molus X100 at 7% and 3600K
Zhiyun Fiveray M40 at low power and 3600K
Background by my doors…

09/03/2026

Today’s recreate comes from another mystery photo. I do make an honest effort to establish where these images come from and it’s always a hit or miss. What I did see is a lot of other photographers have done similar recreations of this one and am happy to add my own to the mix.
This is a two light, black and white set-up where I show how to mix different brands of lights together. Having the Westcott as my key light and a Godox speed light as a background light on slave or photocell mode, I was easily able to connect everything.
Allison again did really well mimicking the pose and helping me pull this off.
Camera
Sony A7V
Lens 85mm
ISO200, 1/250s, f/8
Westcott FJ400 at 1/64
Godox V1mid at 1/6 + 0.7
Background by RAUBAY

09/02/2026

Today I’m doing my own version of this awesome portrait I saw taken by Wilker Mata | Fotógrafo en Chicago who used a spray bottle and a backlight to create it. I’ve seen similar techniques before and Allison was up for a little experiment. This is a two light set up which I wanted to make into a black and white portrait. I intentionally used a small speed light for the backlight to show how anyone with even just a speed light can accomplish this cool lighting. And the filter just tied is all together.
Camera
Sony A7V
Lens 85mm
ISO200, 1/250s, f/8
Godox V1mid 1/4 power
Godox AD200 1/16 power
Prism FX 1/2 Cine Soft Filter

08/30/2026

Today’s portrait is another portrait tutorial using the rear sync shutter mode to demonstrate a one light ghosting effect. I didn’t see who originally created this portrait, but I get strong AI vibes just because the way the ghosting effect in the original was totally separate from the shoulders. It was nearly impossible for us to replicate that movement. But if it was done in real life then please let me know so I can credit appropriately.
That said it was still fun and CHELSIE CAHOON 💎 TRAVEL MODEL and I got a number of portraits we liked. If you haven’t seen my original color portrait for this technique, be sure to check it out too.
Camera
Sony A7V
Lens 85mm
ISO 200, 0.5s, f/8
Westcott FJ250 at 1/16
Backdrop by RAUBAY

08/28/2026

Today’s recreate is a simple one using a piece of black foil, called cinefoil. Like aluminum foil, you can buy it by the roll and is similar except thicker, keeps its shape better and of course is black so it won’t reflect light. This is a one light, black and white portrait of an unknown photographer; like always please let me know if you know who took this so I can credit.
I like what I got except for I also blocked the ear out. If you’ve got a hat you’d think would work with this, I’d love to see your version.
Camera
Sony A7V
ISO200, 1/250s, f/8
85mm
Godox V100 at 1/32

Here’s a step by step post of a tutorial I shared back in June with Samira. Breaking down a one light set up that utiliz...
08/26/2026

Here’s a step by step post of a tutorial I shared back in June with Samira. Breaking down a one light set up that utilizes make-up mirror and a lens filter.
If you want the full settings and guide, make sure you watch the reel and comment “rose” to get the lighting diagram.


I just can’t say no to that face….😅🫠

You don’t need to use a Nanlite like I did. A lot of constant lights will work, particularly with the “puck” style LED in front of the light.

Can you believe that’s the RAW? It’s 86% my model Samira and 14.5% the filter which helps to blend the skin and make the light very glowy.
If you don’t have that filter, try another clear filter or directly on your lens, and smear a light amount of Vaseline or KY jelly on it.

Most editing programs have an automatic eye enhancer. But you can do the same thing by using a brush and painting the iris, then adjusting the contrast, brightness, clarity, shadow and texture.

Comment “rose” and I’ll send you this!

I’m at 97 recipes in the full library and anyone who wants to sign up gets it at the founding member price. Plus it all helps support the work here in this channel as I’m my own sponsor most of the time here😅😊

08/26/2026

Today is a black and white portrait with a vintage feel. This is Megan Fox taken I think by Craig McDean, but I wasn’t able to really confirm this. It’s a two light set up which Allison Laforce did a great job posing for. I didn’t get the flare I wanted in the frame, but like I noted, it could’ve been taken in front of a mirror as well. I’m sure some of the expert commentators here will tell me if I’m wrong or right 😉
Another thing I want to add is when doing this shoot I had preset edits on which made my image darker than the RAWs. If you were to redo this, I’d probably use a less powerful key light and take it down on the power. Or just lower the brightness like I did in my edit.
Camera:
Sony A7V
85mm
ISO100, 1/250s, f/3.5
Godox AD400 1/256 0.7
Godox AD200 1/8

08/23/2026

Today’s recreate is with two constant lights from amaran. I really enjoyed shaping the light on this and creating really crisp shadows you can get with spotlight modifiers. I wasn’t able to see who took this originally, but if you happen to know, please comment so I can credit!
I had a new face today working with me, Allison Laforce , who not only did a great job, but literally stayed in that one spot through the whole shoot! What a trooper!
Camera:
Sony A7V
ISO100, 1/80s, f/4.5
amaran Halo600x at 14%
amaran 360c 9%
Both were at 5600k
Background by Westcott vflat

08/21/2026

I saw this portrait recently and I found it so interesting that I just had to work out how I could capture it. The original photographer linked went to a Flickr page and was under the name of Bobby, The Slighted. Bobby if you see this, please raise your hand so I can tag you as you did a stellar portrait!
My version shows a one light set up where I take advantage of the light absorbing property of velvet. This is half Portrait Lighting and half editing as you will see.
And like I say if anyone is interested and will be around Olten the first weekend of October, comment “Swiss” and I’ll send you the details! It’s going to be fun!
Camera:
Sony A7V
Lens 24-70mm
ISO200, 1/250s, f/8
Westcott FJ400
Background Westcott Vflat

This is another little breakdown of my breakdown! I included some data on my edit as well. Make sure to see the reel I d...
08/20/2026

This is another little breakdown of my breakdown! I included some data on my edit as well. Make sure to see the reel I did on this a couple videos back as well.

Comment “smile” and I’ll send you the link to my recipe page where you can download my top three lighting diagrams for free!

If anyone is interested in signing up for all the lighting recipes being a founding member, I would really appreciate it. It helps keep the integrity of the channel and supports this whole thing I’ve been building non-stop😁

White background by Raubay. Their small version.

If you have enough distance and use a reflector, you shouldn’t have much of any spill from the background. This is the RAW.

Again this is the RAW.

After skin retouching and the basic edits you see in Capture One, I took it over to Photoshop to expand the background so I could get a square. Then I used liquify tool to smooth out the wrinkles in the clothes and add just a bit more curve.

Hope you have fun with it!

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