question from a patron to my MC bts:

"The explanations for light setup nr.1 are very interesting. We can see that the preparation of the material is quite complex around the stage. I'm only wondering how you compose (or imagine) your lighting at first. There's a big mix of lights and reflections. So, how do you decide or know that you will need a bit more of this, or a bit less of that. Is it something you need to test to see the results, and you decide to "freeze" the setting after several tests. Or can you already picture it in your head without even testing (maybe based on your past experience)?"

my answer:
Before every commercial shoot I take time to prepare the moodboard for the whole atmosphere of the shoot and of course the lighting I wanna do. In the case of this Maison Close shoot I prepared different lighting moods I wanted to approach - to bring variety to the project, but still keep some kind of similarity between different sets.

This would be my step by step approach:
1. check what client wants and pick moods/example photos from my mood collection which would fit the idea, throw everything in the project moodboard folder.
2. think of how many different sets in case of lighting I wanna/need to do and sort the collected moods into different folders, which fit together.
3. plan the overall lighting equipment for all those sets, to see how many lights I need simultaniosly. How many lights are required per set and if possible can I just switch the lights position quickly or is it better to have extra lights which can be already in position and just turn them on/off ... the idea is to have everything prepared to save time during the shoot and also be flexible in case the original idea with one of the lighting setups does not work well or I spontaniosly think that adding another light/changing something can lead to better results :)
4. start placing and adjusting lights for set number 1. Before shoot there is enough time to go through different light setups in your head (of course its easier with experience, when you know what you gonna get straight out of your head) and also check them on set while model is getting makeup and hair done (do light tests with assistant etc). Then you can add other lights that you plan to use in set 2, 3 and so on, already place those where you think they gonna be and do light tests if needed (depending on how confident you are with lighting). If there is enough budget or you have your own lights and you. only need 3 lights in set number 1, you can add 2 extra lights with different light modifiers for different angles etc upfront and while model changes outfits just switch on/off and fine tune with the model.
5. Fine tuning the lights when model is in the set - I usually take few shots and decide if I like the results or wanna change something, maybe intensity or the angle.. sometimes add/remove a light.
In the post for the first Set for Maison shoot you can see there are more lights in the bts pictures, but many of them are turned off. If I like what the 3 planned lights are doing but I think the picture could be a little bit brighter in general, I already have a light prepared, directed at the ceiling. I just need to turn it on, and I am gonna have nice indirect fill light. Nearly every picture contains stuff like background light, backlight on the model, fill light etc... so for every position that you usually have in your creative process you can put 1-2 lights there and use those when needed. Everything starts with good detailed preparation and ends with creative improvisation during the shoot :) If you do it often enough, you are going to know what light creates what effect, and its gonna be a quicker process.