Tips + Techniques


Make Face-Mask Photos Compelling: Focus on The Eyes

December 4, 2020

By Jacqueline Tobin

© Gavin Hoey

The year 2020 can be summed up in many ways, one of them being “the year of the face mask.” Not only do face masks and coverings serve as protection against COVID-19, they’ve also become a fashion accessory of sorts for the wearer. For anyone photographing a subject wearing a face mask or covering, though, it can be a real challenge to execute when the majority of the subject’s facial expressions are completely concealed. Not to worry: Photographer Gavin Hoey‘s video tutorial for AdoramaTV, (as part of the “Take and Make Great Photography with Gavin Hoey” series), comprises tips and tricks to create dramatic face-mask photos that convey a sense of mystery, drama and emotion using specific lighting, styling, a smoke machine and Photoshop editing techniques.

With the help of his model Sophie, Hoey starts out by showing some basic setups that would normally “technically” work, but with a face-mask on, it just doesn’t cut it.  After that, he moves on to show you how to build up your lighting to increase the “drama” to get the look you’re dreaming of.

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“We get some drama by adding some shadows,” he says, “and to do this we’ll move the light around so now it’s almost at the side of Sophie this is going to give us dramatic lighting split lighting.”

The next part, and perhaps the most important part according to Hoey, is the eyes of your subject. “When you cover somebody’s face you lose half of their ability to express emotion but the eyes are vital and in this case, Sophie has done a fantastic job with her eye makeup (Sophie, in fact, is a professional makeup artist).” Next, Hoey uses a strip box in the corner to separate Sophie from the dark background where she was sort of disappearing on the left-hand side of the shot.

From there he uses a smoke machine for additional atmosphere, and after a few shots, he’s thrilled to announce he’s created “something epic.” Now it’s time for some post-processing in Photoshop and voila, Hoey’s dramatic face-covered portrait of Sophie is done.

Tips and Tricks Included in the Video for Compelling Face-Mask Photos

  • Incorporating dramatic side lighting
  • Adding a separation light
  • Lighting the dark background
  • Creating atmosphere with smoke
  • Color grading your image in Photoshop

Gear Used

  • Flashpoint XPLOR 300 Pro Flash
  • Flashpoint eVOLV 200 Pro Flash
  • Glow EZ Lock 12- x 56-inch Stripbox
  • Glow ParaPop 28-inch Softbox
  • Olympus E-M1 Mark III
  • Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro
  • Tether Tools TetherPro Right Angle Adapter
  • Tether Tools Pro 16′ USB 2.0 Active Extension Cable
  • Tether Tools AeroTab

Explore over 200 how-to videos in Hoey’s “Take and Make Great Photography” series on AdoramaTV.