Having just moved into the new studio I decided to invite the Tri-City Photographers Group over for a little workshop. We worked with a few lighting setups using cheap speed lights. And I mean cheap – the $50 ones from China that you can find on Ebay. In general these work great. The concept was that you don’t need thousands of dollars worth of professional strobes to get professional quality images. All you need to get fantastic results is to understand how light works.
The image above was shot with 2 speedlights. One speedlight was bounced off a 4 ft white reflector to provide light for the model and the other was used to create some interest in the background. The model was standing about 3 feet in front of a white wall. The background light had a blue gel (gotten for free from a local community theater) and a tube made from rolled up white copy paper attached with a rubber band. This is stuff that any photographer should be able to get easily or have on hand. At one point we used a white piece of foam core board just to prove that you don’t need to buy a reflector – you just need a second person available to hold it in position.
Want to attend a photography workshop in mid-Michigan? Contact me for more information. I am also looking for models in the Saginaw/Bay City/Midland area to work with.