One of the things most people are shy about is their skin. They only ever see themselves in the mirror and don’t often see how they look from a completely different perspective. And as a photographer, part of your job is to portray them in a different light, pretty literally. Lots of folks are afraid of off-camera lighting via flash. But off-camera flash can add a glimmer to someone that constant lights just can’t do. So here’s how to light a portrait to make skin look soft and attractive!
In-Camera Skin Smoothing? Some Can Do It!
Let’s first start off with the in-camera solution: and that has to do with skin smoothing. Lots of cameras can do this from the start and apply it to the RAW file. Just think about how much time you’d save in post-production. Have you ever had a subject say “Hey can you retouch my skin?” Or have they just gone ahead and done the edits themselves to the photos posted?
Well, in-camera skin-smoothing can do that. We’ve seen it on Sony and Fujifilm cameras. So activate it and use it when photographing someone.
But for the rest of us, there are other things you can do for sure.
Make Skin Look Soft with a Softbox
How do you make skin look soft with a softbox? Well, first let’s talk about how a softbox works.
In the diagram above, you can get a better idea of how this works. From left to right, let’s discuss:
The flash firesLight goes into the softbox. That light bounces around the interior of the softboxThe light goes through a white sheet, which diffuses the output instead of creating a harsh shadowThe diffused light continues to bounce around and then hits another white sheet, otherwise known as a baffel. Finally, the double diffused light hits your subject.
To a certain extent, a flash duration that is very fast can also give the same effects as less ambient light. This works best at the camera’s max sync speed with your flash. Model: Asta Peredes.
If there is only one interior sheet (again, called a baffel) then the light will be more harsh and similar to what it would look like if you unfolded a napkin and shone light through the thinnest part of it. Instead, shining light through the folded napkin diffuses the light even further because there are many layers.
Here’s another way to think of it: you’re cold while in bed because the window is open at night. So to compensate you wear pajamas or you cover yourself with a blanket. But that isn’t enough, so you put another blanket on or you wear pajamas and have blanket cover. There are two layers of protection now. And if you’re warm, you’ll probably take a layer of blanket off. In this situation, the cold air is synonymous to light while the blankets and pajamas are more like the baffels.
This tactic also works with a beauty dish. Beauty dishes have interior bounce plates. So all you have to do is put a baffel, in this case called a sock, around the beauty dish.
The photo on the left is an image that I shot many years ago using an affordable beauty dish called the Roundflash Dish. It did an exceptional job and diffusing the light and making Asta glow. You can use this tool to make skin look soft really easily.
Using an Umbrella
Getting the same results with an umbrella is a bit more tricky because one needs to understand how an umbrella works in the first place. An umbrella spreads light out in directions that aren’t very well controlled. The chaotic spread of light is pretty beautiful and can deliver a whole lot of beautiful, soft light.
This all depends on the type of umbrella you’re using. For starters, always either use a shoot-through transparent umbrella or a white interior umbrella. Next, photographers have a habit of bringing the head of the speedlight or strobe straight up to the interior of the umbrella. Instead, pull it away a bit. This will weaken the light output just a bit and also create a softer light instead of it being so harsh.
As an extra tip for all of these products that you’ll be using, put the light and light modifier above your subject’s eyes and point it down at them. That will make the light seem more natural while also providing a nice soft render. Additionally, the larger the light source and modifier, the softer the light will be in relation to the subject. We wish you well making photographs. And you can go ahead and make skin look soft with these easy tips.
