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Lighting Setup: Pastel Colored Light and Gobos

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Ever since I started to use colored lighting, I’ve always battled with the issues that many of us face when combining multiple colors and if you’ve shot with colored gels in the past, I’m sure you’re familiar with what I mean. Images involving multiple colored lights can sometimes look messy or display muddy colors that look almost blocky with clipped color data. But why does this happen? Why do our colored lights often look a mess?

The reason for this is actually fairly simple and in this lighting setup I’ll show you how to mix even delicate pastel colors in the same shot, whilst still maintaining a crisp look.

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Photography’s “cool kids” are leaving Instagram… Is Vero the best alternative?

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It’s inevitable that Instagram will no longer be the main place new creatives share their work.

Some of you, like me, may think we’re already there, especially given some of the recent decisions made towards a very heavy-handed push towards video and a very open move away from stills.

But regardless of the choices made by IG, no matter what they did or do, IG will inevitably fall off as the cool place to share your work and the core reason for this is time.

The brutal truth of this was echoed when Facebook was no longer the ‘cool’ place to be and that happened when fewer and fewer young people signed up to the service. Simply put, nobody wants to be on the same social media site as their parents and when young people fail to engage, creativity suffers.[Read More…]

How to shoot portraits in natural light and enhance them with LED lights

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The vast majority of us learn photography with the aid of natural light. Whether we started years ago with our parent’s film camera, or whether you found your passion for photography thanks to your smartphone, natural light was most likely the sole source of light in your shots.

For many, making that first step into the world of controlling the light can be a daunting one. Which light should I use and how do I learn to use it? Regardless of whatever light you choose though, one of the simplest first steps, is to use that supplemental light in conjunction with natural light and in this article I aim to show you a simple method of combining your lights with the ever-faithful natural light.

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How to make two DIY foldable V-flats for $150

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I’ve used poly-boards, bounce-boards, and even white sheets and white walls as lighting modifiers to soften the light in the past, but arguably the quickest and most efficient way to instantly achieve beautifully soft light, is the V-Flat.

What is a V-Flat?

In its simplest form, a V-Flat is 2 large sheets of white board joined together on the long edge. Imagine two regular white doors hinged together at the sides and it’s this resulting ‘V’ shape that allows them to stand by themselves without the need for further stands and supports. Fancy V-Flats are even black on the other side and the ultra-supremo ones are even foldable for storage too!

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How to use a ring light with colourful backdrops for amazing portraits

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I share a lot of lighting setups on here and every time I do, not only am I trying to share something unique, but I’m also trying to share something that’s practical and easy to implement for as many people as possible.

For the most part, I think I achieve that and although not everybody has access to all the kit I do, I still believe that certain elements of every setup I share are accessible by all. This is me trying to soften the blow of this week’s setup, as although not everybody will own all of this kit, cheap alternatives are viable and failing that, at least the DIY background and basic lighting principles involved are very much achievable by all. As always, if you have any questions about any of it, don’t hesitate to drop them down below.

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Follow these five tips when working with new models

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We all start somewhere and if you’re a new photographer learning the ropes, you’ll likely prefer to get some practice in without having to hire a professional model for every single new idea or piece of kit you want to try out.

Don’t get me wrong, I highly recommend you pay for models when trying new ideas, as this can often remove a lot of the stress from a shoot. Paying for a model often means you’re paying for their expertise in posing and angles, and this can mean it’s one less thing for you to worry about. You’ll likely have enough going on with technical traumas, lighting placement, exposures, camera operation and much more, so paying a professional model who knows how to pose is always a huge help.

But what if you’re starting out and simply don’t have the budget just yet for a professional model?

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How to shoot a clean and simple coloured fill portrait in the studio

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Sometimes you just want a clean and quick setup to start a shoot off the right way. Sure, you may have a ton of creative ideas in store for later on in the day, but they may be new ideas you’ve never tried before or they may be more experimental. If that’s the case, I always find it smart to start a shoot with a tried and true setup that’s not too tricky to do, quick to set up and provides great shots each and every time.

That way, the team knows that whatever happens from here on out with the more experimental work, we’ve already bagged some killer images and everybody is positive about the setups to come.

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Lighting setup: Indoor swimwear shoot

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Shooting swimwear outside in natural light is nearly always the best solution, after all, the bright, crisp sunshine is an easy-win when it comes to making swimwear look good. But what if an outdoor shoot simply isn’t practical or even possible due to location and of course weather?

In this article I’ll discuss a simple indoor setup that can be created in almost any sized space and with standard kit. This setup isn’t trying to synthesise daylight indoors like I’ve done before, but it is about recreating that feeling of an outdoor shoot and I’ll share a couple of tricks I employ to do just that.

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How to set up and recreate caustic lighting for portraits in the studio

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Don’t be alarmed! Yes, the title of this article may seem a little bizarre, no it’s not helping my SEO, but I assure you that there’s actually a scientific reason behind its ‘caustic’ name.
For many years I’ve played with the idea of recreating various lighting looks that many of us may know and love from the natural world around us. Sure, we can buy fancy lighting modifiers that all serve a purpose, but sometimes their look can be a little too clinical, and frankly boring. Yes, once again I’m looking directly at you, softbox users. I guess we all start somewhere though ;)

Now that I’ve ostracised half of my readers in the first paragraph, let’s see if Jake’s latest DIY lighting modifier is actually any good!

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