Making a Two-Light Headshot

by | May 29, 2026


Film Friday is on a temporary hiatus as I make the time to shoot some of the different black & white and color film emulsions that I picked up over the winter. In the meantime, here’s my take on creating a fun headshot.


Today’s Post by Joe Farace

I said I loved photography. I never said I was good at photography.–found on Instagram

As I mentioned in my post, Producing a One-Light Headshot, today I’m giving you my take on how I made a two-light headshot with aspiring model Laura May Bachmayer.

If one light created a pretty good headshot of Cat, then maybe two lights should be twice as good, right? Well, at least it’s completely different and Ms. Bachmayer brings her personality into play to make it a fun experience for both of us.

Ms. Bachmayer and I had seven shoots together, mostly for lighting reviews for the print edition of Shutterbug magazine. This image was created for our penultimate shoot together. But we also did several shoots that were created specifically for my Patreon subscribers. (See the bottom of the post.)

Using Two Lights for One Portrait

How I made this portrait: I made this dramatic, that seems to be a trend these days, headshot both in pose and attire with aspiring model Laura May Bachmayer in my 11×15-foot home studio using Broncolor’s Move power pack and head system.

For this lighting setup (seen above right) I mounted a Bron MobiLED light head inside a 28×28-inch soft box that was used as the main light and placed at camera right but facing Laura May from the side. A second MobiLED head, with 36×48-inch softbox mounted, is facing her at camera left. The reflector that’s below and in front of her is bouncing light from both softboxes back onto her face and is being supported by a Savage Tech Table. The backdrop was a 5×7-foot Savage Photo Grey Infinity vinyl background suspended from JTL background stands. The exposure with a Canon EOS 5D Mark I and my favorite EF 85mm f/1.8 lens was 1/100 sec at f/9 and ISO 200.


Farace bookIf you enjoyed today’s post and would like to support this blog, you can help by joining my Patreon, where memberships start at just $1.25 a month, with additional levels of support at $2.50 and $5 that include special benefits. If you do, I would like to thank you for your support.

If you’re interested in learning how I use cameras, lenses and lighting in my in-home studio and on location, please pick up a copy of Studio Lighting Anywhere which is available used from Amazon.com for less than ten bucks, as I write this. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.