Here’s an old video from Phlearn in which Aaron Nace walks through a clamshell lighting setup. If you’ve never done clamshell lighting before, you’ll appreciate Aaron’s thorough walk-through of the how’s and why’s of setting up and using clamshell lighting.
Keeping with the clamshell theme, below is another take on clamshell lighting from Matt Granger using a clamshell setup outdoors.
And finally, here’s Terry White in a promo piece for Westcott’s Skylux LEDs in a studio environment. Check it out below.
These three tutorials show you how to do a clamshell lighting setup with three totally different lights and environments. No matter whether you have some cheap speedlights, high-end studio strobes or continuous lights, it’s all about the placement and ratio that makes the clamshell lighting look the way it does.
Additionally, the size of the modifier is consistent across all three scenarios, which creates that soft, wrapping light. As you saw from Matt Granger though, even the most basic shoot-through umbrella will deliver nice, soft lighting for your clamshell setup.