Profoto B10x On-Location Fashion Shoot | Inside Fashion and Beauty Photography with Lindsay Adler

Lindsay Adler

Lindsay Adler is a fashion photographer, educator, and author based in New York City. You can follow her work and see her photography on her website, lindsayadlerphotography.com, or on Instagram @lindsayadler_photo.

In this video, I take the brand new Profoto B10X on a test run for a timeless on-location fashion shoot. For these images, I was inspired by the high contrast black and white images of Helmut Newton and wanted to channel his powerful style using a single light source.

First, let’s take a look at some of the basics of the Profoto B10 (and then we will talk about what’s new in the B10X). As a Profoto shooter, I was thrilled to pick up the Profoto B10 a couple of years ago as a fantastic portable light source.

Profoto B10 Features:

250 Watt Seconds
Battery Operated
Works with lightweight/compact OCF modifiers (as well ‘regular’ Profoto modifiers)
Bi-color modeling light(daylight or tungsten white balance)

I’ve loved the B10 and B10 Plus for a while, but Profoto just released a nice little upgrade on these models by introducing the X series. What’s new in these?

NEW features for the B10X:

30% brighter modeling light
Faster recycle times

I thought that the brighter modeling light would be a perfect opportunity to try shooting with ONLY the modeling light and then also compare the results shooting constant lights vs. strobe. I began by shooting just the modeling light (super bright!) which allowed me to shoot at a very wide aperture and also allow the background to appear a bit brighter. I shot with the Canon R5 and Canon RF 50mm 1.2 wide open! At F1.2 this created a beautiful bokeh in the background and I tried to use environmental elements to create a strong/graphic composition.

For lower-key and more dramatic results, I decided to underexpose the ambient light and then add a strobe into the scene. I shot at both 1/200 and 1/400 sec to underexpose the background by 1-2 stops. This created more of a ‘nighttime’ scene and then introducing the strobe allowed me to correctly expose my subject.

I used nothing more than the Profoto OCF zoom reflector to create a hard light source, perfect for the drama of the high contrast black and white.

EVF and Picture Styles:

One of the benefits of shooting a mirrorless camera is the electronic viewfinder that allows you to preview the camera’s exposure settings in real-time. Furthermore, you can also apply picture styles to your image to help you better visualize the shoot. Typically when I’m in the studio I shoot tethered so that I can apply presets and adjustments to the color, contrast, and overall toning. On location, if I plan on having the final image in black and white, I will often use the monochromatic picture style so I can get a better idea of how the image might look. I can actually see the high contrast black and white conversion through my viewfinder, but because I am shooting RAW I can always adjust or change my mind after the fact.

You’ll also notice in these images that I shot pretty much wide open, yet had my subject still moving and walking in the scene. I used Face and Eye Tracking to have the camera do the heavy lifting— it would find the eye closest to the camera and lock focus while my subject was moving. I would have never been able to shoot at 1.2 in the past with a moving subject!

Interested in learning more about photographing for fashion and beauty? Check out these guides on 42 West:

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