07/19/2026
Same model. Same night. Same background. 5 frames, 1 lesson.
I’m walking you through exactly how I went from a flat first shot to a finished image; including the old habit I had to unlearn and the two “finished” versions I ended up with. Settings on every slide. Swipe through 👉
BASELINE
She’s lit perfectly,the background isn’t. I treat my background like a second subject, so this wasn’t done yet.
Settings shown are camera side (Triangle); aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length. Light power for each strobe isn’t listed here, but it’s fully broken down in the story + link in bio, where the complete write-up lives on Patreon.
OLD HABIT
No strobes on the background? Just slow the shutter. It works; but you trade away your color and contrast to do it.
Settings shown are camera side (Triangle); aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length. Light power for each strobe isn’t listed here, but it’s fully broken down in the story + link in bio, where the complete write-up lives on Patreon.
GETTING CLOSE.
Rim added to the Bull.
Rim added to her.
Background light added to the building.
However, the lights weren’t supporting her. They were competing with her.
Settings shown are camera side (Triangle); aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length. Light power for each strobe isn’t listed here, but it’s fully broken down in the story + link in bio, where the complete write-up lives on Patreon.
FINAL (A)
Same lights as the last slide, just turned down. Every light in this frame finally has a job.
Settings shown are camera side (Triangle); aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length. Light power for each strobe isn’t listed here, but it’s fully broken down in the story + link in bio, where the complete write-up lives on Patreon.
FINAL (B)
Rim light pulled off completely. Just as finished as slide 8; rim on or off is style, not right vs. wrong.
Settings shown are camera side (Triangle); aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length. Light power for each strobe isn’t listed here, but it’s fully broken down in the story + link in bio, where the complete write-up lives on Patreon.