Low Angle Lighting to Highlight Eye Shadow Makeup

To me it’s the subtleties of light that can make all the difference in an image. Given the clean hard light on the model’s face, I wanted to add a bit of color to the shadow, matching the mood of the makeup the makeup artist used on the model’s eyes.

We wanted a bit of character to the shadow under our model’s face, playing off the makeup artist’s choice in eyeshadow, we decided to gel a fill light. By placing a blue gel over the light, we could use the low powered fill light to change the color cast of the shadow. This was my first shoot with Max in the bag, and it tested it with a Profoto B1.

Firing it directly at the model it was a bit too strong, so instead we used a small Photoflex Silver/White Reflector and bounced the light in.

Here you can see the set up- note the white side of the reflector at the bottom of the frame.

Compared to the rest of my equipment, Max is a no brainer. It always fits in my bag. This little workhorse carries a heavy load.

About the author: Ian Spanier is an award-winning commercial and editorial portrait, travel, outdoor/adventure and fitness photographer based in Los Angeles, California.