diagram: cozy apartment interior
Let’s breakdown how I achieved a soft, flattering look in a tiny one-bedroom apartment!

summary
First, I balanced my exposure to the open window, and then filled in the background of the room with an Aputure C300d II and a china ball.
Next, it was time to bring in some light on the wonderful model that was me. I put an F10 Fresnel on an Aputure 600D, and bounced that off a 6×6′ ultrabounce through some 6×6′ unbleached muslin dangling off the front of the frame. This is becoming one of my favorite ways to key as it gives a huge soft source in a relatively small footprint.
Trying to keep that 2:1 ratio that commercial gigs love so much meant bringing in a bead board to act as a fill on the shadow side of my face, and a hair light helps separate me from the background.
Lastly, a rake across the background with an Aputure LS60X gives some visual panache to the image to keep it interesting.

