Proper Studio Lighting

I really like the way that this assignment turned out. My original intent was to capture a feeling of grace and serenity by taking pictures of Jenna with soft, gentle lighting. All the pictures were taken with a Nikon D3100 camera with a 18-55mm lens, and for the first picture I used an aperture of 4.5 and a shutter speed of 1/50. To shoot this photo I used the softbox as a main to illuminate the entire picture, another smaller light as a fill light shining on the left side of her face, and a reflector on the right side of her face to reflect the fill light back onto her, eliminating some of the shadows and adding light to her face. I like Jenna's serene expression and the way that the right side of her face is cast in gentle shadows, making it look peaceful and not too harsh or dark. I also really like the semi-profile angle. To shoot the second photo I had an aperture of 3.5 and a shutter speed of 1/60. I used just one light, and it was a softbox shining on the left side of her face. I really like that most of her face is in shadows, and the filtered light of the softbox subtly illuminates her face just a little bit. The overall softness of the picture gives off a very calm vibe. The The last photo was shot with an aperture of 7.1 and a shutter speed of 1/6. I positioned the main light 45 degrees away from her face and used a hair light directly behind her to add more depth to the photo. I love the way it makes her hair look; she stands out from the bland background and almost glows. Overall, I really enjoyed the first studio lighting assignment and I am happy with the results.