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Use This Simple Technique To Create The Illusion Of Different Spaces Using Only One Light

Sep 28, 2014 by Laya Gerlock 16 Comments

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gobo-part-2-12

A few months back, I wrote an article on how to use everyday objects for outstanding backdrops. This post can be considered a part two of that post, as it shows a simple technique to using a piece of cardboard to create the illusion of space.

As I normally do when I seek inspiration, I was browsing flickr and 500px. I found a photo of a gobo’d background using only one light. I liked the idea. So I went to my studio and started playing with it. While it did not had a need for this specific look at the time, I wanted to make sure I have this tool in my toolbox. (I also use the Light Blaster for a similar effect, but then I need a second light as it throws a very hard beem). It’s a very simple technique and very easy do. Here is a quick tutorial on how it is done.

What you will need:

  • A Cutter / utility knife
  • An Illustration Board
  • One Speedlight or Flash

How To:

Using your cutter cut different shapes in the illustration board. Play around with sizes and patterns. Repetitive patterns do well and so does simple bars. I had some scratch illustration board left so I just used it.

gobo part 2 SETUP (1)

For the setup, I used a bare studio strobe mounted with barn doors as I assumed I’ll have lots of small spill corrections to make. You could also use a speedlight for this setup or use a reflector dish for a more detailed shadow. I used a white seamless paper for the background.

gobo part 2 SETUP (4)

I had a voice activated lightstand (Jay) to hold the illustration board for me. There are two factors you cna play around with here:

  • The distance of the illustration board from the light, and
  • the distance of the studio strobe from the subject.

Getting differnt variations on thos you can control the definition of the shadow and the spill of the light.

Here is a sample photo

gobo part 2 (15)

studio strobe was at its lowest power 1/16, and I was shooting at ISO 200, 1/160, f3.5

And some more using similar settings:

gobo part 2 (11)

gobo part 2 (16)

gobo part 2 (6)

gobo part 2 (9)

 

This is how it looks like to any innocent bystander:

 

The Setup

The Setup

I also tried only using the modeling light of the studio strobe – it works quite well if you bump the iso (and this is something I could not do with the light blaster)

gobo part 2 (17)

gobo part 2 (2)

gobo part 2 (12)

Finally, a head shot of the model, with the gobo not that close to her face to soften the shadows.

gobo part 2 (18)

gobo part 2 SETUP (2)Same setup but on a grey background.

gobo part 2 (19)

gobo part 2 (1)

BONUS: If you are a mommy or a daddy, getting the boards ready is a great way to keep the kids busy when you are having coffee. Just dont complain if all your gobos end up like dinosours or spaceships or barbies.

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Related posts:

How to create soft light in tiny spaces with a single light source Use this cool light painting technique to create “ghosts” Tell a More Dramatic Story With This Simple Video Editing Technique This simple technique turns Content Aware Fill into a very powerful tool

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: blinds, defraction, gobo, illustration board, one light, strobist

Laya Gerlock: from diyphotography.net

About Laya Gerlock

Laya Gerlock is a Portrait and Product photographer based in the Philippines. His passion is teaching and sharing his knowledge in Photograpy and has been doing this for 6 years. You can follow his work on his web page, follow him on Flickr and if you happen to come by Cubao, Quezon City (To Manila, Philippines) he gives a great workshop!

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