How to create spooky Halloween lighting in a small home studio
Oct 28, 2019
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Halloween is just around the corner and you may want to shoot some spooky portraits in your home studio. I know I do! In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey will show you how to make a lighting setup and get some spo-o-o-oky portraits even if you shoot in a tiny home studio.
Gavin went for a “chemist/alchemist” concept for this shoot. So, his model is sitting at the table, surrounded by all sorts of bottles.
As for the lighting, it’s edgy and harsh, ideal to create a Halloween atmosphere. Gavin uses only two speedlights with gels. He hides the first speedlight with orange gel among the bottles to create the illusion that the model is lit with a flame from below on her left.
To add more light on the opposite side from above, Gavin uses a Godox AD200 with a honeycomb grid. This creates a directional, moody light on the model. With a green gel, this adds to the spookiness of the Halloween-themed shot.
The setup above resulted in some pretty awesome images. But, if you want to level it up, you can add one more speedlight and some smoke. Gavin placed the third speedlight with a green gel behind the model and added some smoke to the scene using a smoke machine. Now we’re talking!
Make sure to watch the video above, as Gavin builds the set gradually, showing you the process step-by-step. And if you shoot some scary Halloween photos, feel free to share them in the comments below.
[Halloween Lighting in a Small Space: Take and Make Great Photography with Gavin Hoey | Adorama]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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One response to “How to create spooky Halloween lighting in a small home studio”
I probably would have put a sliver of dry ice in the one flask before she poured something in, so it would create a smoke effect in the flask.