You have a night off and want to spend some time at home being creative? Gab Loste has an interesting idea for shooting night neon-themed portraits, but without leaving home. All you need is some free time and the stuff you most likely already have at home.
It goes without saying that you will need a camera, preferably with a fast lens. As for your light source, you will need a TV. Choose colorful graphics to display on your TV screen, and it will act as your neon lights. Gab chose graphics by Adam Sandler, you can check out his work here.
Next, you’ll need some objects to create reflections: it can be a prism, a suncatcher or a CD, feel free to experiment. You’ll also need a reflector to bounce some of the light, and use a tripod to stabilize your camera.
When you shoot photos like this, Gab suggests you place the model as close to the light source as possible. This will allow you to reduce ISO or increase shutter speed. Use a prism or a CD to create reflections, which will add interesting effect and fill the image with more light. Finally, Gab advises you to shoot with the widest aperture in order to blur the background. Here are some of the photos Gab took:
I quite like this idea because I often spend my free evenings shooting at home, playing with the props and random items I already have. And frankly, I’d rather use a TV for making some portraits than trying to find something decent among 100 crappy channels. : ) So, I think I will use this idea for my next night off at home. If you decide to try it out, feel free to share your results in the comments.
