Photography & Lighting setups
From the category archives:
Trying to control light in my small studio is something I wrestle with all the time. With white walls close in and a white cyc light usually bounce around everywhere if you don’t stop it.
In the studio, we have large bookends to block light, but I felt we needed something flexible that won’t take up so much floor space.
This will be the last photo from this portrait session I did for a guy wanted to get into the modelling business as a male model. Last I heard from him, he had signed for an agency so I guess the pictures did what they were for. Showing his potential.
First we started with a one-light setup using only a Profoto D1 250 Air and a Magnum reflector, together with a reflector for a little fill.
Very often my clients want photos taken in their office, but to make it look a little better, often with a stock photo as some kind of visual reference. Trying to imitate something very polished, sunny and designed, in an ordinary office has its challenges. Especially when the sky outside is covered with dark clouds.
That is exactly what happened to me lately, when shooting portraits for a client. We had just shot the ordinary portraits against a medium grey background in one of their rooms, when they asked if I could take a couple more. If I could use their office as background, they would be delighted.
Recently I took some portraits for a guy wanting to try his luck as a male model, click here for the result from the outdoor portrait session on a cloudy day.
Before that we started in the studio with a very simple lighting setup. Just one Profoto D1 250 Air and a gridded Magnum reflector, and a bookend. On white background. No retouching, just him.
I mostly work for companies but sometimes there is someone who thinks it might be worth it to hire me just to get good portraits, and pay with their hard earned (and taxed) cash. Not that I am that expensive, but people paying out of their own pocket tend to go for the cheapest alternative (i.e. not me).
The guy in the portrait above wanted to try his luck and send some pictures to a model agency. What he needed was a couple of portraits, without make-up or styling, and we did a couple in the studio and moved outside for a few more under a really grey and cloudy sky.
