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How to shoot easy white backgrounds for either products or portraits

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It’s one of the oldest and most fundamental techniques when it comes to shooting both portraits and product photography in the studio. But it’s also one of the most misunderstood and difficult to grasp for a lot of newer photographers. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about the ubiquitous white background shot.

In this video, Rob Hall walks us through the process of getting two white backgrounds. The first demonstration is in a portrait setting, showing how the background is lit vs the subject and how to prevent the background from flaring into the lens. In the second, Rob sets up a small product shot using a light table. Both are lit quite differently but achieve the same result.

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The first review of the Godox AD100Pro shows a versatile flash, but it’s not for everybody

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The Godox flash lineup is ever-expanding. It’s just something we’ve come to expect now. But when they recently announced the new Godox AD100Pro, it made a lot of people go “huh?” [insert John C. Riley gif here]. What was the point? Can’t we already do this with the Godox V1? Or the AD200 with the H200R round head? What’s the benefit?

Well, yeah, kinda. But also no. In this video, Rob Hall goes through just about every feature and detail you could possibly want to know about the Godox AD100Pro and… well, when you watch it, the existence of this light and why you might want one or several in your bag actually starts to make sense – at least for some shooters.

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Stop asking photographers what flash power they used – it’s irrelevant

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It’s a question that’s often seen in photography groups. For some reason, people want to know all of the technical specs and exposure settings of every photo posted to those groups. In flash groups, people even want to know what flash power level you were at – as if it was actually a useful question to know the answer to.

Photographer Rob Hall sees this question all the time, so he’s decided to respond with a video. But this isn’t just a rant about why it’s a dumb question – well, not completely. Rob also tries to inject some knowledge to explain why the answer to the question is irrelevant and suggests some questions that you should be asking instead.

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If you’re struggling to understand stops and exposure, you need to watch this

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What is a stop of light? Essentially, it’s a relative quantity of light. Either half or double of a pre-existing amount. But what does that really mean? And why does it take Rob Hall 8 whole minutes to explain it? Well, that simple concept comes with a lot of implications in photography, and it applies to everything from our ISO, aperture and shutter speed to flash power, flash distance, neutral density filters and more.

Understanding what a stop of light is and what it implies are vital for creating good and consistent exposures in photography, and it’s one of its most basic principles. If you don’t understand it, it can be difficult to figure out what problems might be occurring when you shoot an image and it isn’t what you expected.

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This is why location scouting is so important for destination and event photographers

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I’m lucky with my photography. It’s almost all on location, but I mostly get to choose the location myself. They’re places I’m familiar with, that I’ve scouted regularly for several years. So I know what to expect when I show up, where the light’s going to fall at different times of day or year. For a lot of photographers shooting on location, though, you’re often in locations you’re only just seeing for the first time.

Photographer and YouTuber, Rob Hall, recently shot a wedding at a venue in another state he’d never been to before. But the first thing he did when he arrived at the location was to go and location scout the area. In the 8-minute video, Rob talks about how to do that and why it’s so important.

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Godox vs Godox – How the FV150 LED flash compares to regular speedlights and strobes

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LED flash has had a bit of a bumpy start the last couple of years. A number of products have come out, but they’ve not been very good. At IBC in September, Godox showed off their new FV150 LED light which features a built-in LED flash function. Rob Hall has had his hands on one and while this isn’t really a review, it’s an interesting discussion on the topic of LED flash and how they compare to more traditional strobes or speedlights.

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The Godox V1 round head speedlight is finally here

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The Godox round head speedlight, first teased during Photokina 2018 is finally a real, finished, final product. Now it has an official name, too, the Godox V1. And it’s coming a month or two sooner than expected. Rob Hall has gotten his hands on one, and in this video he goes over its major features

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Godox is showing off a new X2T trigger with easy group control and built-in Bluetooth at WPPI

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Many thought that the Godox X1T line of triggers would simply die off once the Godox XPro had been released. But it was not to be. Too many people want that passthrough hotshoe and they’ll never give it up in favour of the XPro, no matter how much more efficient the workflow is.

Godox appears to have listened to this feedback, and is launching the Godox X2T. It’s a new trigger based on the original Godox X1T style design, but with buttons to select specific groups and built-in Bluetooth for smartphone power control. Rob Hall had the chance to have a bit of a play with one at WPPI and grabbed a few photos.

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How to create a classic three-light beauty portrait lighting setup

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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.

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How to eliminate reflections on glass when shooting with flash

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Usually, when we hear about reflection issues with photography, especially with flash, it’s on glasses. The type people wear on their faces. We’ve posted about that on here before. This time, we’re dealing with regular flat glass. Like that found in windows and doors. The same principles apply, although you do have a few more options.

In this video, photographer Rob Hall takes a look at the subject of reflections on glass surfaces when working with flash. He offers up a number of tips and solutions to help reduce or eliminate the problem entirely. Which will work best for you will depend on your situation. But armed with these techinques, you’ll have a much better chance of getting the shot you want.

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