This was a bare bulb lighting setup. A Godox AD400 was placed to the left of the setup to serve as the main light—mounted high, angled down, and positioned to make a clean defined shadow on the floor and not the background. The bare bulb allowed a widespread amount of light, but with harsh shadows that fell on the model. Another Godox AD400 was set on the opposite side, bouncing off a full body mirror to counter the shadows created by the main light. The power output of this one was significantly lower than the main light to avoid a secondary shadow created. The last light was a Rimelite Fame 600, bouncing off a curved mirror to help give the final photo more dimension to it—a secondary linear shadow can be seen on the floor, providing another leading line to the model. This same light also provided a subtle backlight to the model, creating the illusion that the main light had a much wider reach.

The bubbles were shot separately and added in post. When shooting with chaotic elements such as bubbles, there’s a lot of danger in relying on chance. The opportunity to have ideal shaped bubbles with ideal blocking with an ideal pose by the model is little to none, and you’d need to achieve this at least five to ten more times per outfit. When shooting, work on a 90-10 rule: strategize to have 90% control, and only give 10% to chance.

Placing the bubbles in post allowed us to work effectively and efficiently, and kept our focus on what was important: the clothes. Chaotic/unpredictable elements takes away the focus that every sector of the shoot should be focusing on: makeup, hair, styling, photography, etc.

Final piece of advice: it’s easier to work with bubbles in a black background in post.

Photography by Artu Nepomuceno, assisted by JT Fernandez
Styling by Danae Dipon
Hair & Makeup by Mong Amado