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Equipment Minimalism
I have worked with some fun studio equipment before and have airbrushed and retouched images to death and all that fun stuff and in the end...I went back to shooting either with one off or on camera flash with an umbrella or completely natural light....and I honestly love it more like this.
I feel like it's liberating both for me and the others involved in the shoot and don't have to worry about lighting looking significantly different depending which way the model is facing... I just love that golden hour light, to be honest....or light midday harsh light for spooky fun photoshoots! Has anyone else gone mostly natural and minimalist with lighting? I would love to see some unique and interesting images and to get inspired if you are up for sharing. I have a shoot coming up and I'm thinking I want the main light to be the sun through the trees behind the model slightly to the side, and then have my on-camera flash only for fill but haven't decided yet! I just like the idea of shooting at golden hour and having a bit of a halo around the model! Oct 17 25 07:06 pm Link Go all the way and use only natural light. Oct 17 25 08:56 pm Link Znude! wrote: I just might! I love your portfolio! Very inspired by it! Oct 17 25 08:59 pm Link Znude! wrote: Sometimes you just need a little kicker light to soften the shadows.....
Oct 18 25 06:43 am Link I primarily use natural light shooting at either sunrise or sunset. Oct 18 25 07:01 am Link Currently all of the photos displayed on my page are either natural light or single strobe. With that said, you don't get extra points for using either a lot of equipment or a little equipment. Oct 19 25 06:13 am Link Available light is the best, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. The porch of my home studio has beautiful late afternoon light...for about a half hour. In this photo I used only a 4x6 white card camera left for a touch of fill.
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/45816948 There is a joke in the film industry describing a director photography known to use a large number of lights: "He uses only available light ...every light available. Oct 19 25 06:39 pm Link Recherche Cadaver wrote: Thank you for the compliment. It's not all done with natural light but natural light is my favorite. Recently for studio work where I used to use strobes I switched to led lights with large fresnel lenses. At first they seemed too intense and harsh on the subject but somehow they really produce some beautiful light. LED's with the large fresnel lenses are a fun and creative alternative to flash / strobes. And of course you can throw a large fresnel on a strobe head but it's so nice to be able to see exactly what the light will look like and where it is going as you shoot. Oct 19 25 07:31 pm Link Whatever floats your boat. I have known photographers that think the only authentic photography is shot with the 50mm lens uncrossed and at one time people actually filed their neg carriers out so there would be a black frame showing the photo was un cropped Oct 20 25 11:48 am Link I love both ways a lot. Oct 20 25 02:42 pm Link Who was it who said "I only use available light ... Whatever light is available." I am only interested in the effect of light, not so much its source. It seems that many photographers don't pay much attention to the light which is why so many pictures are boring. Oct 22 25 10:24 am Link I haven't used studio-lighting for the last 35 years, ever since I left Chicago weather, and have used only natural daylight or night-time street-tlighting ever since.
Every photo in my now-ancient MM portfolio was shot with only natural daylight, though many commenters have complimented me on my "excellent studio-lighting". Nothing can match the sweet shading of properly utilized and configured broad-daylight. Oct 25 25 03:04 pm Link Dan Howell wrote: I don't care about points. I don't want to fiddle with equipment too much and I want better rapport with models and more freedom to shoot from different angles. Not everything is about people-pleasing. Sometimes there are practical considerations.
Oct 27 25 01:46 pm Link Focuspuller wrote: Hahaha that's awesome! Permission to steal joke? Oct 27 25 01:47 pm Link Znude! wrote: Exactly...it also means less testing and fiddling with lights, which means more time shooting and less impatient models and being more in the moment! I really miss shooting with continuous, available lights....even dramatic street lights with slow shutter speeds! Super cool! Oct 27 25 01:49 pm Link Modelphilia wrote: True. Oct 27 25 01:50 pm Link I do it all the time. If there's existing light you can shoot. I am not afraid to pump it to ASA 3200. Nov 09 25 09:39 am Link |
