Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this Photo Deconstruction I break down the cover shoot for Tmrw magazine featuring the incredibly talented model Winnie Harlow.
The concept behind this cover shoot was to create a really warm
look, as if the model was bathed in late day sunlight, but with a little bit of a vintage vibe.
Let's take a look behind the scenes of the lighting and the stage for these images 1:59
💡Lighting
The first thing I did for this 3 light setup was eliminate all of the ambient light in the studio so that I could create these slices of light without anything else interfering.
The main light was the Westcott Optical Spot, which, of course, you guys know that I designed
in conjunction with Westcott.
I use this to create a beautiful hard light on her face.
Now the main light here, I use the kit lens, which is great for head and shoulders and beauty shots.
The second light was also an Optical Spot but this time with a 24 to 70mm lens.
My goal for this image is I wanted a tight, slice of light on the subject's face and then a slice of light behind her so that she would be separated out from the background.
The final strobe is a Zoom Reflector with a CTO (color temperature orange) gel that's giving me some of that warmth that I wanted for the shot.
You'll notice there's some other things going on here as well. I also used Cinefoil to block the spread of light hitting the background and a flag to block the light hitting the ground right in front of the subject.
So that gives you a breakdown of the behind the scenes.
Let's go look at what was captured in camera versus what was achieved in post: 6:40.
You’ll notice that I was getting that warmth that we envisioned, so I did a quick color grade as the images were coming into Capture One so everyone could get an idea of the final shot: 7:35
For post production I majorly increased the contrast, darkened down the exposure, and warmed up the shot by adjusting the white balance and added more yellow to the highlights.
So you can see I get really close to the cover shot, just through color grading.
There wasn’t much additionally that needed to be adjusted in post, just some minor cleaning of the skin, adding a catchlight to the other eye and smoothing out the hair in the back of the head.
We did wind up doing a wider shot as well with the same 3 lights, just with minor adjustments. 9:36.
Here are some of the other shots as well: instagram.com/p/Cd_Y1v7OMhA
📢 I’d love to hear your thoughts on the final outcome. Drop a comment below.
📸 Camera Settings:
✅ 1/200th
✅ F/5.6
✅ ISO 800
📸 Gear Used:
✅ Canon EOS R5: https://prf.hn/l/7oZobqW/
✅ Canon 24-105mm 4.0: https://prf.hn/l/deZLnJq/
✅ Canon 24-70mm lens (for optical spot): https://prf.hn/l/QLjXpjz/
✅ Profoto D2: (discontinued, linking to new D3): https://prf.hn/l/K9ENnmk/
✅ Westcott Optical Spot: https://prf.hn/l/G9DRROp/
✅ Profoto Reflector 2: https://prf.hn/l/YLlxoE2/
✅ Profoto Matthews 24x36" Solid Black Flag: https://prf.hn/l/NdE11py/
✅ Cinefoil: https://prf.hn/l/2MgNBx9/
✅ Tiffen Star Filter: https://prf.hn/l/AJbgDEn/
✅ Profoto Air Remote: https://prf.hn/l/Kz4yPNW/
✅ Avenger D600 boom arm: https://prf.hn/l/EJDBPD2/
✅ Savage C-Stand: https://prf.hn/l/kV0wEB3/
✅ Tethertools Tether Cable: https://prf.hn/l/vwzRaoJ/
🔥 For more an extended in-depth course on studio lighting check out my class Master Studio LIghting: https://lindsayadler.photo/msl
----
👉 Portfolio: lindsayadlerphotography.com
👉 Instagram: instagram.com/lindsayadler_photo
👉 Facebook: facebook.com/lindsayadlerphotography
👉 Twitter: twitter.com/lindsayadler
👉 Education: learn.lindsayadlerphotography.com
Some of the links in this description contain affiliate links to partners.
In this Photo Deconstruction I break down the cover shoot for Tmrw magazine featuring the incredibly talented model Winnie Harlow.
The concept behind this cover shoot was to create a really warm
look, as if the model was bathed in late day sunlight, but with a little bit of a vintage vibe.
Let's take a look behind the scenes of the lighting and the stage for these images 1:59
💡Lighting
The first thing I did for this 3 light setup was eliminate all of the ambient light in the studio so that I could create these slices of light without anything else interfering.
The main light was the Westcott Optical Spot, which, of course, you guys know that I designed
in conjunction with Westcott.
I use this to create a beautiful hard light on her face.
Now the main light here, I use the kit lens, which is great for head and shoulders and beauty shots.
The second light was also an Optical Spot but this time with a 24 to 70mm lens.
My goal for this image is I wanted a tight, slice of light on the subject's face and then a slice of light behind her so that she would be separated out from the background.
The final strobe is a Zoom Reflector with a CTO (color temperature orange) gel that's giving me some of that warmth that I wanted for the shot.
You'll notice there's some other things going on here as well. I also used Cinefoil to block the spread of light hitting the background and a flag to block the light hitting the ground right in front of the subject.
So that gives you a breakdown of the behind the scenes.
Let's go look at what was captured in camera versus what was achieved in post: 6:40.
You’ll notice that I was getting that warmth that we envisioned, so I did a quick color grade as the images were coming into Capture One so everyone could get an idea of the final shot: 7:35
For post production I majorly increased the contrast, darkened down the exposure, and warmed up the shot by adjusting the white balance and added more yellow to the highlights.
So you can see I get really close to the cover shot, just through color grading.
There wasn’t much additionally that needed to be adjusted in post, just some minor cleaning of the skin, adding a catchlight to the other eye and smoothing out the hair in the back of the head.
We did wind up doing a wider shot as well with the same 3 lights, just with minor adjustments. 9:36.
Here are some of the other shots as well: instagram.com/p/Cd_Y1v7OMhA
📢 I’d love to hear your thoughts on the final outcome. Drop a comment below.
📸 Camera Settings:
✅ 1/200th
✅ F/5.6
✅ ISO 800
📸 Gear Used:
✅ Canon EOS R5: https://prf.hn/l/7oZobqW/
✅ Canon 24-105mm 4.0: https://prf.hn/l/deZLnJq/
✅ Canon 24-70mm lens (for optical spot): https://prf.hn/l/QLjXpjz/
✅ Profoto D2: (discontinued, linking to new D3): https://prf.hn/l/K9ENnmk/
✅ Westcott Optical Spot: https://prf.hn/l/G9DRROp/
✅ Profoto Reflector 2: https://prf.hn/l/YLlxoE2/
✅ Profoto Matthews 24x36" Solid Black Flag: https://prf.hn/l/NdE11py/
✅ Cinefoil: https://prf.hn/l/2MgNBx9/
✅ Tiffen Star Filter: https://prf.hn/l/AJbgDEn/
✅ Profoto Air Remote: https://prf.hn/l/Kz4yPNW/
✅ Avenger D600 boom arm: https://prf.hn/l/EJDBPD2/
✅ Savage C-Stand: https://prf.hn/l/kV0wEB3/
✅ Tethertools Tether Cable: https://prf.hn/l/vwzRaoJ/
🔥 For more an extended in-depth course on studio lighting check out my class Master Studio LIghting: https://lindsayadler.photo/msl
----
👉 Portfolio: lindsayadlerphotography.com
👉 Instagram: instagram.com/lindsayadler_photo
👉 Facebook: facebook.com/lindsayadlerphotography
👉 Twitter: twitter.com/lindsayadler
👉 Education: learn.lindsayadlerphotography.com
Some of the links in this description contain affiliate links to partners.
