Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with Lucy on some beauty shots. She did a great job and her experience was valuable in helping take the images from idea to reality.
Lighting Setup
I wanted a clean, bright look for the photos. This meant a pure white background, and soft, even lighting on the model. For the background I hung a large white cloth against the wall, and hung a roll of diffusion paper from a background stand about 1 meter in front of the cloth. (more…)
I recently made the switch to remotely triggered hot shoe flashes for my studio stuff. For years I’d been using a set of 650W quartz lights. They are great lights, but super hot, and a lot of work to set up and tear down. And because of the heat, there’s a limit to what you can do in the DIY modifier department – anything placed too close to those lights is likely to burst into flames.
Hot shoe flashes are light, battery operated, and easy to whip out on a whim. This flexibility has ignited my creativity, and I’ve caught the DIY bug (again).
Last weekend I went to my local 100yen shop (like the dollar store but way cooler) and bought 2 plastic tubs for storing food. I cut flash-shaped holes in the bottom of them and made some simple diffusers. I covered the outside in gaffers tape to prevent light from spilling out the sides so the light would be somewhat directional. These are fun and easy to make, but I wanted more. Enter the DIY Strip Light. Continue reading
So far, I’ve been pleased. It’s well written and full of good information and example photos, but this is not a beginner’s book. You’ll get lost in the jargon if you don’t already understand lighting terminology like “gobo” and statements like “set the hair light 2/3 stop higher than the key light.”
One of the techniques he explains is using a strobe right behind the model’s head to push light through the hair and make it glow. This is seriously cool effect, and something I’ve only done accidentally with sunlight, not intentionally in the studio. After reading the section on backlighting, and checking out his beautiful sample images, I just had to give it a try. Continue reading