When you hear the words “Studio Photography,” do you have visions of a crazy day gone wrong? Stress? Perfect blissful photos? If you think “Bliss” I want to know where you get your photos done. If the words “crazy” and “stress” come to mind, you may like the solution I am going to share with you.
First things first – backgrounds – you can use a white sheet, velour blanket, velvet, canvas – truly the possibilities are endless and sometimes more expensive than others. I rented a background from Rent Scenic Backgrounds to simplify things…this would be a great thing to do with a group of friends and kids/grandkids – you all could go in and then share and have a photo party!
Keep in mind you can also rent cameras and lenses if you really want to get creative and go all out. I just used my regular camera.
Now If I had stopped there, these are the results I would have – keep in mind I don’t have an off camera flash in this shot and I am just using the on-camera flash…
Definitely need to correct a few things in this photo – but you can see I am a bit limited. I COULD have taken this shot in the afternoon when the sun comes through the window to the left and does some really nice natural lighting – but I was shooting in the evening – and the reason I shot in the evening was so I could control the light…this second shot is a bit more natural.
What was the change? A portable studio Strobelite kit from Westcott Photo Basics. Sometimes studio lighting can be intimidating – however one of the reasons I LOVE this kit is that it came with an educational DVD with instruction from amazing photographers working with all sorts of different photography. I haven’t even begun to explore all of what I can do with it – but for the price and the setup it truly is amazing!
Can you see the floor cover? It takes the stress out of studio photos because it tells you where to place your lightstands, subject and back lighting. Another thing I love about this kit is that it came with chords to plug into my camera so when I take a photo the strobe lights automatically synch with my camera’s shutter to capture images. That, combined with the educational DVD, really gives one the confidence to get into the studio and shoot!
Another thing I love is that I can setup the studio and when the kids are in a good mood or playful I can just pull them in and get a few shots – I also find that because we are in the comfort of our own home, my kids are much more relaxed and candid than they ever would be in a formal studio setting…like this photo – taken while the little guy was going around in circles – I would just snap a photo as he turned to face me each time…
My favorite from the hour was this one – it is just a sweet capture of these two and their relationship…
I would love to have your help with a title for the above photo and any studio type tips you have for everyone…so comment away!
For more great photography and digital scrapbooking tips, visit Kayla at http://www.digiscrap101.com/.