Artificial light for Lifestyle Photography : One Light Many Looks (part 5)
If you’ve ever wanted to learn about using artificial light for lifestyle photography you’ve come to the right place. This is something I’ve been studying and working to understand all year, and I had a major epiphany during this session below. MAJOR. Like Game Changer MAJOR. I had been taking all kinds of equipment to my in-home lifestyle sessions experimenting and tweaking, then doing it some more.
With this session, I started with my strobe and umbrella system. I set it up in the corner as usual and even though there were two large windows there, it still wasn’t enough light to shoot with film (in Seattle – as a disclaimer). My ambient meter reading was 1/15 @F2.8 for 400 speed film. Not enough for a family of 6, yo! So I got the light set-up and started shooting with this super fun family in the living room. But their entire house was SO COOL and I wanted to photograph them in ALL the fun spaces!
So I took a leap of faith and turned to my flash which I had been playing with my kids at home. And guess what? Epiphany! Fireworks! This tiny little flash, when bounced, could give me enough light to photograph the family too! AND, it was super duper portable and easy to set up. And I could use it in a tiny bathroom, even (see below). Did I already say game changer? Yes, I did. But is worthy of a repeat. I ended up using bounced flash in four rooms and it worked seamlessly.
So check out my One Light Many Looks series with room-by-room grids for this one session.
Living room: strobe
Basement : bounced flash
Kitchen: bounced flash
Bedroom: bounced flash
Check out more examples of how I use artificial light in lifestyle photography (#lightingforlifestyle) for more ideas and if you’d like to learn, I am now offering mentoring sessions!
Contax 645
Fuji 400h rated at 400
RPL
Learn a Simple Flash Method for Lifestyle Photographers Who Want Freedom Without The Fuss
Kim Hildebrand
Photographer & Online Educator since 2007
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