American Crew I

It’s probably a man thing, but I’ve been going to the same barbershop for over twenty years and João, the actual owner, is the only barber who cuts my hair. We’ve been good friends ever since, so it came to no surprise when he told me he was competing in the American Crew All Star Challenge.

The rules were simple: black background, no props visible, black and white and proper lighting to showcase the hairstyle.

I set up a roll or white paper and lit the model with a couple of Nikon SB28 speedlights and two umbrellas: one shoot-thru and another bouncing the light from the flash. Here’s Marina stepping in for me to test the lights (at the time pregnant with our daughter Júlia).

The results are pretty clean and simple and there’s so much you can accomplish with a pair of tiny speedlights and lightstands. The umbrellas are Westcott’s 43”.