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How to dramatically change your studio lighting with a gridded stripbox

December 26, 2024 Neil vN Leave a Comment

How to dramatically change your studio lighting with a gridded stripbox

I have posted before about one of my most favorite light modifiers in the studio - a gridded Profoto 1’x6’ strip-box  (B&H / Amazon). It is a surprisingly adaptable light source in how you can swivel it and tilt it and rotate it. This tall stripbox gives a soft light, but highly directional.  Once you realize you don't have to use stripboxes in a strict vertical position, a lot of options open up. For example: Using a gridded stripbox as the main light  (model: Claudia) Profoto:  Read more inside...

Studio photo session with a dancer – gelled flash

July 2, 2018 Neil vN 4 Comments

Studio photo session with a dancer - gelled flash

Following on the article showing the Outdoor photo session with a dancer, Ella - here is a studio photo session with another dancer - Grace. For this particular sequence, I decided on using gels to add a splash of color to the images. Grace is impressively elegant, with powerful movements when she jumped. As far as the poses and movements were concerned, I again let myself be guided by the expert here - the dancer herself. Similar to how I described the collaborations with Ella (previous linked article), and with Anna Russel, and  Read more inside...

BTS: Fashion catalog photo shoot in the studio

January 25, 2018 Neil vN 5 Comments

behind the scenes: Fashion catalog photo shoot in the studio

From a recent photoshoot in the studio for a fashion designer, Isle By Melis Kozan, I want to give a bit of a glimpse behind the scenes. Further below there is a short video clip that shows what went down in the studio. Nothing frenetic - the pace is calm and steady. As it should be when you need to get through a large number of items. Fashion catalog photo shoots are fairly straight-forward - the key is consistency is lighting and positioning. You also need consistency in the camera's viewpoint. There is no Art  Read more inside...

Studio photo session: Yoga

January 2, 2017 Neil vN 5 Comments

Studio photo session: Yoga

With this portfolio shoot, we wanted to end up with sequences of photos that looked different enough - as if they were taken at different times, and even different locations. In between, Heather would change her outfits as well. We ended up with four distinctly different setups - two of which used studio lighting, and two which used available light only. With the two setups using studio lighting, the easiest way to make the lighting look different, was to use a big softbox or one setup (for softer light), and a gridded stripbox for another setup (for more  Read more inside...

Studio portraits of children – Lighting and textures

March 28, 2016 Neil vN 3 Comments

Studio portraits of children - Lighting and textures

Going towards the brighter, less moody way of lighting children's portraits, as shown here - dramatic portraits of kids - I went with the parents' request with how they wanted this 3 year old's portraits to look like. I therefore lit it differently, but still with (mostly) just a single light source. For my own portfolio, I added a texture to the background. More about the lighting and post-processing in a moment ... The family stopped by the studio on their way to Chuck E Cheese's for this kid's 3rd birthday party. So there was  Read more inside...

Studio photography – Lighting simply for impact

November 28, 2015 Neil vN 5 Comments

Studio photography - Lighting simply for impact

This striking image is from a commercial gig, shot in my studio for a company launching a range of hair extension products. For this sequence, one of several different setups we did, the client wanted this view and this look - so I had to decide on the best way to light their suggestion. We really make the hair the focus of the image, so I had to shoot from above on a short step-ladder. The decision on how to light this, was based on the commonly accepted principle of starting with a single light first, and only then building it up  Read more inside...

Post-processing workflow: How to deal with color banding

April 21, 2014 Neil vN 12 Comments

Post-processing workflow: How to deal with color banding / posterization

If you've ever noticed banding or  posterization in your photos, where you'd expect solid colors, then there's a relatively easy fix for it. This posterization effect appears as bands of colors, where the transitions between similar tones aren't smooth, but have jagged edges instead. It is caused by the 8-bit JPG not having enough data to give you a smooth gradient when large blocks of color slowly change. You'll often see it in the blue sky in landscapes, or as in this case, with large areas of color in the  Read more inside...

Studio photography: Low-key lighting variations

September 18, 2012 Neil vN 8 Comments

Studio photography: Low-key lighting variations

The mood and simplicity of low-key lighting make it especially effective. So when Ulorin Vex appeared out of the dressing room with this black dress, I knew it would work very well with a low-key set-up in the studio. We had set up the darker background for previous outfits, but for this black dress, the simplified lighting - just a Profoto beauty dish (affiliate) - worked especially well. There were two lights behind her to show off the curves against the dark background.  The gridded softboxes are exactly the same as shown  Read more inside...

mixing different light sources in the photography studio

May 5, 2011 Neil vN 8 Comments

photography: mixing different light sources in the studio

While playing around in the studio late this evening with a group of attendees at the Treehaven workshop, someone challenged us each to come up with an idea, using any of the lighting equipment there ...  Read more inside...

Fashion photo shoot, using multiple lights

December 13, 2010 Neil vN 9 Comments

My friend Chuck Arlund is a Fashion Photographer whose elegant photography is something I always admire. Chuck’s previous guest spots here have been well received. His article on  simple on-location lighting techniques using a reflector & flash, was especially popular. Therefore I’m really glad that Chuck is graciously sharing with us how he came to shoot this stunning photograph for Parasuco.

Fashion photo shoot, using multiple lights

a guest post by Chuck Arlund Hey there everyone!  I have been working with a celebrity stylist and we have shot a  Read more inside...

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