One simple light

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Often I get the compliment that I only work with one light and get some “pretty cool images”, of course it’s nice to get compliments but…. well it’s not 100% true.
Let me put it differently.
I strongly believe that if you can pull something off with only one light… why use more?

 

It has nothing to do with the fact that there is only one sun, I never really supported that case, well ok I agree there is only one sun for us earthlings but if we look at the light around us there is much more than one light source, look at reflections, the ambient light etc. etc. actually we life in a world filled with light.

 

No the real reason I often only use one light is the simple fact that it just does the trick, I love the more darker looking images sometimes and let’s be honest when you use one light with for example a grid you are already half way there. The other reason is also a bit “because it’s easy” you don’t have to drag around a lot of lights, setups are very fast and the results are always great without the chance of double shadows etc. However… and I really want to make this clear, I’m not a 1 light kind of guy, on the contrary I love using multiple light sources to really add mood to a location, pin point the model with one and add the rest with a second (or third), add some accents where I want them, add a splash of color and sometimes…. well I bought a lot of lights and Annewiek wants me to use them at least sometimes (Ok that was a joke…. or was it).

 

Now most people somehow struggle with the use of one light, so today a small sample about how you can learn to master your one light.
For this setup I used one striplight with a grid (shot during the workshops in Eersel for Studio76 with Nadine as my model).

Nadine Februari 14 Eersel (24 of 99)-Edit

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2 black and whites and some tips

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During studio sessions it’s always difficult to find something new in let’s say a portrait.
Now let’s be honest… we all know the mom and pop images, just a standard portrait that you see almost every where on the wall, why? well simply put it’s the shot of a child/family member you know.

 

But why not just go a little bit further.
I hear you say… “well because I’m not working with a model”
Well I hear you, working with a model has it’s benefits of course, but the following two shots could have also been shot with a client that is not a model, actually even the light setups are very simple.

 

In the first shot I use a small beauty dish with grid as my main light and added the strong black and white effect in PS with Silverfx 2.
Manon Februari 15 Eersel (36 of 41)-Edit

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Manon during the studio76 workshops

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Today some images shot during the workshops I taught in the Studio76 studio this weekend.
Model : Manon.

 

Manon Februari 15 Eersel (14 of 41)-Edit

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Don’t be afraid to go wide

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Often you hear the question “what’s the best lens for….”
In my opinion there is not really a best allround lens…. it all depends on creativity, what you want and what you need.
In model photography often wide angles are labeled as “not done” and I can understand this, a wide angle distorts the image (if you’re not careful) and it’s not a lens that will be great for model separation from the background.

 

However having said that… the wide angle can be awesome for some special effect shots, for example lay on the floor and let the model jump very close to you and you can get some pretty funky stuff like this shot we did with Manon during the workshops in Studio76 this weekend.

Manon Februari 15 Eersel (13 of 41)-EditSo although people say “don’t” always try to find a solution in which you say “it will work”, this will make your work stand out from the crowd because somehow now a days a lot of people just believe what’s being told online and don’t even try it anymore, be smarter 😀