For Oneka’s third look, things got off to a somewhat painful start.
As I was turning over the set from the previous green setup to our new burgundy concept, I removed an A-clamp from the backdrop and absentmindedly set it on top of a ladder. About five minutes later, after I had completely forgotten it was there, I moved the ladder so I could position one of the edge lights. The clamp immediately fell off the top of the ladder and struck me directly in the forehead.
The result was a cut roughly 3/8 of an inch (about 1cm) long right in the middle of my forehead. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious, but it was enough to draw blood and serve as a reminder that even small pieces of grip equipment can become hazards if they aren’t stored properly. I included the footage at the beginning of this video, along with a frame-by-frame breakdown of exactly what happened. So let my mistake be a lesson: never leave anything sitting on top of a ladder, even if the ladder is less than a couple of feet (60cm) taller than you are.
Once I stopped bleeding and got everything sorted out, we moved on to the actual shoot.
For this look, I returned to draped fabric, this time using burgundy satin in front of a crimson paper backdrop. After reviewing the first two setups, I felt that a harder, more contrasty lighting approach would better complement the reflective quality of the satin and help create the shine and separation I was looking for.
To accomplish this, I removed the diffusion material from both of the large strip softboxes and positioned them behind Oneka as edge lights. Because these are indirect modifiers, the flash heads point away from the subject before the light is reflected back toward the front of the modifier. This design creates a more even distribution of light from top to bottom and eliminates the central hotspot commonly seen in direct modifiers.
For the main light, I replaced the fill source with a 70cm silver beauty dish. During my initial testing, I found that the light was too concentrated on Oneka, so I added a grid and moved the beauty dish farther away. This provided more even coverage from head to toe while still maintaining the contrast and directionality that I wanted.
I also positioned the beauty dish directly in front of the set. After watching Oneka naturally turn in different directions throughout the first two looks, it seemed like the safest choice. No matter which way she turned, the lighting would remain consistent and flattering.
The final result was a much higher-contrast image than the previous looks, with stronger highlights, deeper shadows, and a visual quality that complemented both the satin fabric and the rich color palette.
