The three light setup has been a staple of portrait photographers for decades. There isn’t just one three light setup, though, there are several, with some slight variations, which can change the mood dramatically. In this photo, photographer Rob Hall used his three lights with various modifiers to create this portrait, and he’s shared with DIYP how he set them up in order to get it.
Soft fashion light – The Lighting Series #11
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Sometimes you want a hard light to make a statement, but sometimes you want a soft light, a light that draws little attention to itself. That was the case with our Model in a Red Dress shoot.
The Black and White portrait – The Lighting Series #10
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Taking a 180 degrees turn from our color-bursting portrait, here is a very soft black and white portrait and how to build a great setup for it.
Stylized portrait, right out of camera – The Lighting Series #9
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Some portraits, you just want to be beautiful, not after retouching, but when you’re taking them, right out of the camera. That’s how this one goes.
5 ways to use an umbrella for stunning portraits
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The umbrella is one of the most underrated modifiers in photography, I think. It’s one of the first that many of us usually encounter once we start working with speedlights or strobes, and Bowens even used to include umbrellas in their strobe kits.
But we often feel that we “outgrow” them, in favour of softboxes and beauty dishes. This video from photographer Miguel Quiles, however, demonstrates that we shouldn’t be so quick to discount umbrellas. He shows us five ways to use umbrellas to get some pretty amazing results.
This is how high your light source should be for photographing portraits
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One of the questions I often hear from people who are new to photography, particularly when using flash is “How high should my light be?”. It’s a difficult one to answer, especially if you’re shooting on location because there are so many variables.
The Koldunov Brothers break their usual silence in this 9-minute video to explore the topic. They offer a lot of tips with practical examples to show how different lighting heights and positions affect how the camera sees the subject.
Here is how the position of light changes your portraits
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The position of light in relation with your subject can significantly affect the atmosphere of your shots. Depending on where you place the lighting, you can completely change the mood of the scene. In this video, Mark Wallace of Adorama teaches you the basics and gives you a quick preview of how the placement of light affects your portraits. If you’re new to portrait photography, you’ll find this especially useful.
Apollo app for iOS creates cool lighting effects better than Apple’s Portrait Lighting
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If the iPhone’s Portrait Lighting already impresses you, then you better check out Apollo. This $1.99 iOS app adds immersive lighting effects that are–dare I say–better than what Apple’s version offers.
The Apollo app uses depth map from dual cameras to create the effects so, it only currently works with the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus and X. Nevertheless, it does a great job at applying different lighting effects at any angle. In fact, you can even put a light source behind a subject to act as a rim light. You can add up to 20 light sources in one image and seamlessly adjust the color, intensity, and distance. Check out the short video clip below to see it in action:
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Two photographers going head to head, natural light vs. strobes
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Natural light or artificial light? Sure, it’s a matter of preference, but photographers Manny Ortiz and Jessica Kobeissi made an interesting challenge out of these two approaches. They had three rounds of photographing the same model in the same studio. Jessica used only natural light, and Manny added off-camera flash. Let’s check out the results and see which you prefer.
Photographer creates painterly masterpieces inspired by the old masters
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I would probably need an infinite number of counting beads to count how many times a photographer says they are trying to capture the master painters of old in their work. But one photographer embodies this style whilst infusing it with their own master touch more than any other. Meet Gemmy Woud-Binnendijk, one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and a master of portraits! I first saw Gemmy’s work a few years ago and was blown away by the attention to detail and subtle touches. At first, I thought they were paintings until I looked closer. Her influences are worn clearly on her sleeve for all to see, but she never copies. Gemmy’s work forces you to star at it, looking for the little touches that add character, and that is where the magic lies.[Read More…]
