No. 136 · Dream collection

Haze Cone: a spotlight portrait AI photoshoot

A woman with long blond hair in a charcoal coat steps one foot into a spotlit oval, the coat hem lit, the rest in darkness

You get one hard spotlight in a dark, hazy studio: a crisp oval on the black floor, a visible cone overhead and a figure stepping into and along its edge. Everything outside the beam falls away to near black.

Art direction: Alex But

Try this shootAll 143 shoots
Lens
85 mm
Aperture
f/2.8
Shutter
1/160 s
Light
One hard spotlight in haze

Best for

  • Portfolio cover
  • Theater or dance program
  • Album or single artwork

Six frames from this shoot

Five frames and one detail, made by haloshot from three phone photos of one person.

About the single spotlight look

A profile spot with shuttered edges hangs about six meters up and 45 degrees to one side, warm-white and ungelled. Thin haze shows its path from the upper corner, and the hard light rakes across wool so every seam and fold stands out. From nine meters back, an 85 mm at f/2.8 and 1/160 s keeps the figure sharp and the far darkness soft.

Clothes, place and when to pick it

haloshot dresses women in a charcoal boiled-wool coat over a stiff pleated ankle skirt, and men in a long black boiled-wool coat with a sculpted back over very wide trousers, both in tall lace-up boots. Nothing else in the big black studio is lit. Pick it for a dance program, a fashion portfolio or a quiet cover with your face caught in the beam.

How it works

Add three photos of yourself: face, half turn and full length. haloshot renders a free five-frame preview of Haze Cone with your face. Pick the frames you like and keep them in 4:5 HD.

Without AI

How to light a portrait with one spotlight in haze

A theatrical profile spot gives the hard, shuttered edge, and thin haze makes the beam visible in the air. Every other light in the room, work lights included, stays off.

  1. Book a black studio or stage and rig an ellipsoidal or LED profile spot about 6 m up, 45 degrees off axis.
  2. Cut the floor oval with the shutters, sharpen its edge with the barrel focus, and run a hazer low.
  3. Shoot the 85 mm at f/2.8, 1/160 s from 9 m at waist height, raising ISO for beam detail.
  4. Tape the oval edge so the model finds the light line without looking down.

Use a water-based hazer and ask the venue to isolate smoke detectors first.

Set notes by Alex But, art director · Updated

More Dream shoots

See the whole Dream collection · 11 shoots

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140Sunken SetSnell's window

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141Call TimeMirror reflection

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142Late CheckoutMixed light

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143DappleDappled sunlight

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133Mackie LineDarkroom solarization

Collections

Shoot Haze Cone with your face

Three photos in, five free preview frames out. Keep the best ones in HD.

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