There are good reasons visual artists value a room with “north light”. The directional but soft light from a bank of windows, exposed to the sky but without the glare of direct sun, is ideal for many subjects. For glamour photography, it’s the gold standard.

But not many photographers have such a room, so knowing how to simulate that look using studio strobes is a valuable technique.

Brian Peterson (omp #3524) does an exceptional job of simulating the north light “look” in a small studio space using conventional Photogenic monolights and a small Plume softbox.

Here is how he does it.

First, a bit of theory: it may not seem intuitive, but in general, the closer you bring a light source to a subject, the softer, less directional that light will be. Think of it as the difference between the high contrast and sharp shadows from a flashlight (small source) and the low contrast, enveloping light on a subject sitting near a north-facing window (large source). The desire for this kind of light fueled the 1990s obsession for ever larger softboxes. And glamour photographers typically try to simulate the “north light” look in a studio with an extra large (3x6 foot) softbox, placed within a few feet of the model. This technique can produce beautiful images but since it can be almost shadowless, the images lose the visual hints of directionality that make a simulation of natural light convincing.

Brian Peterson’s images, a stunning mix of this softness and directionality, are produced with rather modest equipment: three monolights, two filters, a small softbox, and a muslin background. Here are the details.

Brian’s basic layout uses a 2 by 3 foot Plume Wafer Hexoval 100 softbox on a Photogenic 1250 monolight as the key light close to the model. This relatively small light source produces distinctly directional light - you get the clear sense that the model is being lit by a window to her side. Given only this light, the contrast would be far too high, and the shadows too dark. So a fill light is bounced off the opposite wall. Typically, this will include two Photogenic 750 monolights, one on a tall light stand, one on a lower “background” stand. If the room is especially small, he will add two more bounced lights to achieve an even spread of fill light on the model.

Although Brian’s camera is very expensive, a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II with a 90mm lens and a PhaseOne H20 digital back, his technique can obviously be used with less exotic gear.