Those of us who are passionate about content creation know that it is not just about getting likes. It is about sharing our message and our vision with an international audience. Emma Broyles will have an incredibly important platform to share her mission and message this year as she was recently crowned Miss America 2022. I was invited to do her very first photoshoot as Miss America 2022. Now, I will be sharing some tips for successful content creation as I worked this talented woman.
Preparing for the Photoshoot
In preparing our shoot together, I spoke with Emma and representatives of the Miss America competition to figure out what our visual goals were for the shoot. Thankfully, they provided flexibility and encouraged me to steer away from anything “traditionally pageant.” Instead, we focused on creating images that were fresh, modern, and elevated. We aimed for a mix of fashion and portrait, so the photos could be used on the cover of various magazines for the organization and future promotions of Emma.
My portrait work is often a mix of contemporary personal branding with fashion influences — both in the styling and the lighting. After our chat, I decided to divide the shoot into three main concepts: warm tones, timeless black and white, and ethereal high key.
For all of these shots, I used my go-to camera and lens combo: the Canon R5 and Canon 24-105mm 4.0 lens. Canon and Adorama also provided Emma with a Canon EOS R and Canon RF 24-70mm 2.8 lens to use for her own content creation, and I showed her some of my favorite features. Be sure to check out our video together here:
Now, let’s get into the three setups…
Setup 1: Warm Tones
Concept
Warm tones are great for flattering skin tones and creating fresh, contemporary portraits. When someone wants something elegant but also welcoming, these tones are my go-to. I have a variety of canvas backgrounds and seamless paper to give me some variation between subjects.
Lighting
For this image, I used a Westcott Scrim Jim 8x8ft flat on the frame to create extremely soft and flattering lighting. This scrim was lit with a Profoto 1x4ft Strip Softbox. Because of the large size of the scrim, I was able to evenly light the entire scene. Even though the subject was close to the background, you can see there is (almost) no shadow because of the softness of the light.
Next, I added a 1x4ft strip softbox below to fill in the shadows and create more catchlights in the eyes. I used this light very subtly so that I wouldn’t completely flatten out the sculpting of the main light.
Setup 2: Timeless Black and White
Concept
A timeless and sculpted portrait in black and white is a great way to create an image that is elegant and lets your subject’s beauty speak for itself. Because the Miss America competition is a long-standing tradition, I decided that a classically simple portrait would be a good fit. The concept is elegant and would allow an opportunity to include some timeless styling.
Lighting
For this scene, I have the subject on a Savage Universal Fashion Gray background with L/XL Umbrella with Diffusion to the left of the frame. This creates beautifully soft light to illuminate the entire subject with a flattering and sculpting light.
As you can see, a white V-flat was added to the right of the frame to help lift up (lighten) the shadows. This is by bouncing some of the light from the umbrella back toward the subject. A second V-flat — this time, black — was added to the left of the frame. This was used to block some of the umbrella’s light and prevent it from hitting the background.
If you take a look at the final shot, you can see that the background on both sides of the subject is a bit darker. This creates the look of a glow behind her, and a natural vignette caused by the lighting.
Setup 3: Ethereal High Key
Concept
Who doesn’t want to wear a crown and feel like a princess? This setup was meant to lean into the princess feel and create lighting that is dreamy and soft. Shooting on white would give the subject a lot of graphic design and layout opportunities. Furthermore, this dress is a perfect mix of princess, pageant, and high fashion!
Lighting
This lighting is a bit more complex. In order to achieve a soft glowing light, we bounced two strobes (no modifiers) into a white background. Then, in front of that, we positioned our Westcott Scrim Jim. This time, it is acting as a background and main light. The scrim behind the subject would create a pure white background and beautiful, wrapping highlights.
What about lighting the subject’s face? For this scene, we placed the subject in a box of light by using Two White V-Flats to surround the subject. These V-Flats would catch all the light from the scrim and bounce it back to the subject. This creates extraordinarily flat/soft light. We also used a piece of plexiglass on the floor to create a beautiful reflection.
Final Thoughts
Together, we created images that are fresh, modern, and with a bit of a fashion edge. These are great examples of a personal branding photoshoot that Miss America 2022 will be able to utilize for a wide range of promotional uses.