This is one of my favourite headshots for two reasons.

1. Light.
2. Shya’s face.

I was shooting Shya outdoors in harsh, mid-day sunlight, which is pretty much the least flattering thing on Earth. I had brought along an Alien Bees 1600 monolight to overpower the sun but I actually turned it off for this shot. There are two things going on here with the light. Firstly, I positioned Shya so that her face was completely hidden from the sun. All of the sunlight was falling on her hair, which shielded her face. Secondly, the sun was bouncing off the light-coloured sand and on to her face, which provides the highlights in the bottom half of her eyes. If you look closely, you can see a little orange speck in there — that was the ridiculous pair of orange board shorts I was wearing.

Shya’s face, of course, is fantastic, and nothing more needs to be said.