Dramatic lighting

Today I just wanted to do a portrait with very dramatic lighting. So I went to the studio to check what I have and what I can use for a dramatic lighting setup.

Things that I used for this setup:

2 studio lights on stands 1 on a boom
2 barndoors with honeycomb grids
Wide angle lens
Grey background
Tripod
Reflector
Wireless shutter release

First of all I positioned the main light in front of the subject. Above the head in a 45 degree angle...slightly to the right of the subject. Fitted the light with the barndoor and then adjusted the doors so light spillage is limited. I tried to prevent the light from spilling into the background.

I then positioned a background light behind the subject directly pointing to the backdrop. Again adjusting the barndoors to limit the light spill, especially on the subjects back. It was trial and error trying to get just the right amount of light into the backdrop. I finally got it after a couple of tries.

I then positioned a reflector at the subjects feet to bounce a bit of light coming from the top. This will prevent the bottom half of the subject from becoming too black.

Took a couple of test shots with the camera on a tripod, to get the right amount of lighting. Then finally, I got the shot that I wanted.