The main light in this shot was a Yongnuo YN560 Speedlite in a 60 cm square softbox on a boom stand, above and slightly in front of him and pointing down at a slight angle. I also had two Canon Speedlite 580EX II flashes in two meter high strip boxes with grids on behind him for the rim lights. I had the main light really close to him and that gave me some nice, soft shadows. Remember that bigger light sources will give you softer shadows. So bringing the light closer to your subject will make it bigger and give you soft shadows, whereas moving the light away (or making it smaller) will give you harder shadows. This was exasperated in this shot by the fact that I had a diffuser on the softbox, but that is the theory. I'd suggest that you experiment with different distances to see what works for you. I seem to be favouring the softer shadows lately and it also helps to get a little bit more light into the model's eye-sockets which, as I've mentioned before, is a bit of a challenge with top down lighting like this. If you have any questions, please ask. I'm happy to share the knowledge. Model: Lysle Turner Location: Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa See the rest of the shoot and more info here Thanks in advance for all comments, favourites and watches. Even if I don't reply and say thanks to all of them, I really appreciate all the feedback you guys give me. All images are copyright (c) Johann Marx. Unauthorised use (including manipulation artworks, websites, layouts, tubes, wallpapers, banners, blogs, CDs, posters, icons or any other use of this kind) is strictly forbidden. Please respect the model in your comments.