I'd like to start out by apologizing for the images that I'm using in this thread. I know they are not totally work safe, but I wasn't planning on doing any kind of write-up. But, I thought I would share.
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I know most amateurs think that in order to get a high key look one must use lots of lights and stark white seamless paper backgrounds. Everyone loves that "Cindi-esque" look, but we all (including myself) don't always have the space or equipment for lots of lights.
The above photo was shot with only two lights. One which is the background is a 60 inch shoot through umbrella with Jamie kneeling in front of it, as seen in this photo.
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The second strobe is behind and slightly (very slightly) to the left of the camera for a near flat, but not quite, light. It has a 40 inch umbrella.
As you can tell, the ribs of the "background" umbrella do show, but it was a simple clone job to fix, using only a white paintbrush.
Metering wasn't difficult, I only metered with an incident reading for the key light and just cranked up the background light.
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You say, "But Leroy, I don't have a 60 inch umbrella."
I'd be willing to bet you have white garbage bags or access to some. They'll work fine.
"I don't have two lights."
Gonna bea bit more tricky to meter, but you can do it with one light and a reflector, if needed. You would use the one light for a background and use the reflector as a key light.
"I don't have any strobes."
You have the sky and a reflector? Same concept. Shoot against the sun and bounce light back at the subject, metering for the subject.
This photo was shot using only a halogen work light for the background and aluminum foil for key and fill lights.
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Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy a little easy lighting setup that can give cool results.
This photo was shot using only a halogen work light for the background and aluminum foil for key and fill lights.
Thanks for sharing your stuff, Leroy. I'm especially impressed with the minimal set-up on this lens shot. Btw, my first digital camera was the Nikon Coolpix 5400. It was a great little camera and I could carry it in a jacket pocket.
Perhaps you should write it up as a proper tutorial so that it "sticks".
There are a few lighting tuts I'd love to write, just a matter of stopping to shoot for them. If I had a mannequin head or bust I could run through them, I think.
