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 Published by

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Let’s Get Practical!
We at Good Light! Magazine are celebrat-
ing our 2nd anniversary. We are looking
back at publishing eight issues for which
we received a phenomenal near-5-star
rating on iTunes and Google Play. Thank
you so much!
As a small, quarterly magazine, we keep
hearing well-intentioned tips on how to
grow our readership.
First and foremost, we should include
many more gear reviews. People love
them and they make it easy to fill up pag-
es. With enough articles on gear, we could
even publish monthly instead of quarterly!
Furthermore, a gear-centric magazine is
much more attractive to advertisers. Cer-
tainly, all of that makes perfect $ense!
Editor’s Eye
3
But what our loyal readers keep telling
us via the feedback form, which is at the
end of each issue, is that they love tips on
how to do certain photo shoots, how to
achieve certain looks, and how to make
the most of simple gear. For us, this is
enough motivation to stick to our core:
being the most practical magazine for
people photographers. As such, we will
stay clear of fluff, even though it might be
popular. Rather than publishing “month-
ly mainstream,” we are going to stick to
“quarterly quality,” and we will continue
delivering the practical photo tips that
help you most. ■
Germs Nabua Maps Santos
Editors
Contents
FEATURES REGULARS
It’s time for good light Your Lighting Setup

Positioning light and models Ultra-Soft Beauty Light

By Michael zelbel
made easy
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Trouble Talk
On Location: Posing Hands
On or off camera flash By Michael zelbel

Boost your lighting with a

transceiver speedlight My ShotKit
By Michael Zelbel, visuals by Rufei Ma
Christopher Norris
Do not Distort 5 Questions for...
The right focal length for
portrait shots Brian Smith
By Sarah Pulvermüller By KEVIN TANG

Instant portrait light Style File

A Flash in Your Shopping Bag
By MICHAEL ZELBEL
Soft Skills
By Mark Glover,
visuals by Sebastian Dehio and

DIY Bubblewrap Filter

Michael Zelbel

Lens hood and bubblewrap: a

perfect match made in heaven
By MICHAEL ZELBEL
 Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
6
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Ultra-Soft Beauty Light

with One Bare Speedlight
Building a perfect light sphere in your closet

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more

to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Although many shooting techniques in beauty photography may look really im-
pressive and difficult to apply, most of them are much easier than people doing
them would have you believe. High-key lighting is one such technique.

When you see a picture that features
a model bathed in a torrent of soft,
charming light, a part of your mind
simply refuses to admit that this
heavenly display has, in fact, been shot
inside a small room, a basement studio,
a white tent in someone’s backyard –
even a storage room or a garage, for
that matter!
How do we know? Having done quite
a number of high-key photos, we never
actually had to visit the pearly gates
or a sterile white room in the Matrix
for this – it’s always been as Spartan
as possible. As long as you have
any interior space with reasonable
reflective properties (i.e. white walls
and ceiling), you can make it look all
shiny and ethereal – just like we did.
This is the lighting diagram for my original setup.
Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
7
That’s why many photographers love
high-key lighting so much – it spares
them unflattering backgrounds, ugly
shadows and “glitchy” colors. It’s a nifty
technique to learn, and it doesn’t take
all that much in terms of equipment or
skill. If you want to learn how to shoot
in high-key, this is what you will need:
a reasonably white room – any
interior with white walls and ceiling,
a tent or even a DIY shelter made of
white sheets will serve;
a lightstand;
a speedlight;
a quality lens – when in doubt, go
for a 50 mm prime lens, but it would
be better to have a fast telezoom or
a superzoom lens for this.
 Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
8

Now, the last time we showed this kid

of lighting setup in a video on our blog
SmokingStrobes.com, we used no less
than three flashes to light up the scene!

Two were directed at the background

(set for 1/4 of their power), while the
remaining one was placed slightly
behind me to lend a little bit of light to
the foreground – at 1/16 of full capacity.
If you want to know how that previous It’s hard to imagine that this was shot in a hid-
shoot unraveled, you can watch the eously small room with barely any space for
video directly from the blog. the model and the speedlights.

As nice as the pictures from this shoot looked, they led me to think that three flashes would, in most cases, be
an overkill for a high-key setup. For my second experiment, I only used one.
Taken from my previous shoot with the model
Coco. Abundant lighting, “burned out” white
background, barely any shadows – those are
the hallmarks of high-key photos.
 Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
10

Time has passed, things have changed and now we realize that the same results
could have been achieved with only one speedlight at our disposal. Back then, we
thought that the simplest and most effective solution to equalize out the distribu-
tion of light in the room was to add more flashes. In hindsight, this was a poorly
thought-out strategy: the lighting seemed slightly aggressive, and highlights, al-
though soft, were very, very bright indeed.

Pale-skinned models like

Fredau here will look
most beautiful in the
soft light of one care-
fully placed flash, rather
than in a shining surge
from three speedlights.
 Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
11

What we should have done was to as possible, you will definitely find this
re-position the one speedlight that information useful. Let’s get to it, shall
we had: mount it on a lightstand, get we?
it further away from the background
and aim it properly. This would have
taken care of our “uneven lighting
problem” by ensuring that every part
of the room reflected the light in equal
measure. That way, not only was
high-key lighting achieved with a lot
less equipment, but the hightlights
were soft instead of intense, and the
background was glowing and shining
with warmth instead of “burned out”. A solitary speedlight will do the trick just as well
as three of them have – in some ways, even
better!
Now that this idea’s been tested and
proved to work fine, we would like to
share it with all of you. If for some
reason you don’t own three flashes,
have never taken high-key shots
before or prefer work with as little gear

This is what my new, simpler and cleaner setup looks like.

When shooting high-key
pictures, try to make your
images “same but differ-
ent” by changing up small
details like clothing, the
model’s facial expression,
marginal changes in her
pose etc.

During my shoot with the model Jennifer Hill I When the background details are flushed out,
tried to get by with a single speedlight. The re- the viewers will focus on your model, so make
sults were quite satisfying. sure she looks her best.
With a single-speedlight setup, we
kill two birds with one stone – we
rein in the highlights that used to
be a little too intense, and we also
de-clutter our set from extra gear.
High-key lighting is great for maternity photos.
Soft light emphasizes how charming Modelina
looks here.

Who says a mom can’t be cool

and upbeat? We and Modelina
beg to differ. High-key lighting
can make for a very playful mood.

The light is so soft and omnipresent that we
didn’t need any additional reflectors or fill
flashes for this scene. Normally, a couple
would cast shadows on each other. High-key
lighting took care of this for us, while at the
same time providing the necessary mood.
When shooting in high-key, our goal is
to light up the model from all directions,
“burning out” the background and
leaving as little shadow as possible,
but at the same time keeping the
light soft, albeit quite bright. White
surfaces will act as reflectors, whereas
the speedlight is going to be our main
lighting source.
Mount the flash on a lightstand and
set it for 50% power; place it behind
the model so the speedlight would
face the white background somewhere
Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
15
between the upper section of the wall
and the ceiling. Cover any of the darker
objects of interior with – you guessed
it – white pieces of cloth. Now position
your model, aim the camera and shoot
some posh photos!
See, didn’t we tell you it was easier
than it looked? Also, maybe it’s just
us, but this new one-light setup seems
to produce less aggressive lighting,
which can be very advantageous if
your model has a pale complexion.
As you can see, shooting high-key
images with one speedlight is a valid
and extremely useful technique.
Now, to get better results and further
refine your photographic skill of taking
high-key shots, you may want to heed
some additional advice:
- The amount of light captured by your
camera will vary depending on the
speedlight settings and the reflective
properties of the model’s surroundings.
If you don’t feel like there is enough
light for a decent high-key image,
ramp up the intensity of the flash – or
bring in a reflector to the side that is
insufficiently lit.
- Chances are that your white room is
going to be quite tight for two people
– so be a gentleman and zoom in with
your lens instead of trying to cram
yourself in there.
- By their very nature, high-key photos
tend to look generic; to avoid this,
emphasize variety in the model’s
poses, lingerie (or lack thereof), facial
 Ultra-Soft Beauty Light with One Bare Speedlight
16

expressions, make-up (or lack thereof),

hair-do etc. There will be no interesting
background or curious lighting patterns
to add to the atmosphere, so do the
best you can with what you’ve got.

- High-key lighting is usually used

to convey upbeat and jolly mood,
and rightly so – it’s thoroughly non-
dramatic. You can use it to create very
expressive and punchy pictures, as
clean and beautiful or as lively and
joyful as you want them to be.

So, today we’ve learned how to make

a high-key lighting setup the minimalist
way – with nothing but a speedlight
and a white interior. Congratulations,
you have discovered a little secret of
beauty photography: high-key images
are not so hard to do! Now don’t miss
a prime opportunity to enhance your
portfolio with some sophisticated
pictures; you know it doesn’t take much There is nothing wrong with depicting a male
to shoot those – but your viewers don’t. model in soft high-key light.
This is time to impress them with your
photographic prowess! ■
For more tips & tricks sign up for
our free newsletter:
Oleg Starko Photography Talk
Comprehensive Basics - 3D Simulations - Set Plans - Exercises - Sexy Imagery

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 It’s Time for Good Light
18

Tips & Tricks

It’s Time for

Good Light
Positioning light and models
made easy
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

The million dollar question that I get
asked over and over again is, “Where
should I position my light for the best
results?” This is a question that we
all struggled with many, many times
during photo shoots – particularly when
working with strobes or other artificial
light sources.
Photographers with a solid system for
light positioning usually achieve great
results a lot faster than those who rely
on trial and error. If a photographer
doesn’t have a clue about how to
arrange light sources for producing a
certain effect or mood, a long time may
pass until they “find” the right setup for
The lighting setup: Phottix Para-Pro Shoot-Through Umbrella 72” / 182 cm
2 speedlights Phottix Mitros at ¼ of their power
It’s Time for Good Light
19
their particular situation. Obviously, I
want you to be in the “savvy” group
that knows what to do!
In this article, I will show you a very
easy system for categorizing positions
for your light sources and the model’s
poses. If you can tell the time by the
clock face, then you will be able to use
my system to arrange the lighting –
that’s how simple it is!
The inspiration for this article came
to me from an article by our friend
Jacques Rattaz, a photography tutor
from Switzerland, published in Good
Light! Magazine Issue 03. In his
 It’s Time for Good Light
20

“Charming Light Out of the (Octa)Box” good system of light positioning will
Jacques showed how changing the prevent things like that from ever
model’s position relative to an Octabox happening – so let’s learn one right
can affect lighting. A lot of you loved away!
the insight they got from that article;
however, an large Octabox is not a Face the “Clock Face System”
very common device, and not many
So, how do we make a quantifiable
people have access to it – or a powerful
scale that would accommodate all
studio flash, for that matter. That is
the mind-boggling variety of lighting
why I wanted to use this opportunity
setups? Easy – TIME FOR GOOD LIGHT
to demonstrate that you can achieve
- imagine a clock face. This is what
good, even amazing lighting by using
works best for me – I picture a clock
nothing but two speedlights and a
face or a dial, in the center of which is
large umbrella. Such a setup is very
my model. The camera typically sits on
lightweight, very portable and much
the 6 o’clock position, the lens looking
more affordable than other monster-
straight at 12 o’clock. Using this circle
sized light modifiers. The huge umbrella
as a frame of reference, you can easily
for example set me back about US$
80,- and no, I did not forget a 0 in this
price.
The system explained in this article is
just one of many. All of them are based
on the same idea: you can break down
a full range lighting positions into
quantifiable scale, to use as a frame of
reference. If some other system works
better for you and makes more sense,
then by all means use it instead. Having
a system and using it for simplifying the
process of setting up light is the only
important thing. Without it, obtaining
repeatable results in the form of
amazing photos with similar lighting
and posing will be that much harder.
The Clock Face System from above –
Imagine how badly it would suck to awesome starting point for lighting diagrams.
come up with a brilliant lighting setup,
forget to sketch it down and then spend (1) Model looking at 7 o’clock
(2) Camera at 6 o’clock
weeks fumbling with flashes, reflectors (3) Umbrella in various positions between 7
and softboxes trying to replicate it! A and 12 o’clock

keep track of where each lighting source
is at and where the model is facing.
Let’s say my model is turning her
body towards 6 o’clock. Then I would
photograph her straight on. So “model
at 6 o’clock” would give me a frontal
fashion-like shot – a pose most suitable
for slim figures. If she were to turn to
4:30 or 7:30, the result would be a
charming half-profile position. Any
number of great poses is possible with
the model turned at a 45° angle relative
to the lens. However, once she turns to
9:00 I would see her in full profile, and at
12:00 I would just capture her backside.
Got the idea?
Rather than thinking about “maybe
I turn her a bit to this or that side” I
say to myself, “For the next photo I am
going to pose her towards 8 o’clock
for a great shot of her shoulders and
chest”. Because it features concrete and
Behind the scenes of the shoot and a bit of explanation of the system
It’s Time for Good Light
21
quantifiable increments, my system
makes precise positioning possible,
providing me with a very good idea
of what to expect as a result of my
decision.
The one and only thing even more
important to my photography than
the model is the light. So my clock face
system would be pretty worthless to
me if it didn’t work for the light equally
well. Fortunately, it does! Placing a
main speedlight at 6 o’clock gives me
a broad, flat frontal light. Again, this is
something that is very good for fashion
shoots but not much else. The safest
position for beauty light would be 4:30
and 7:30, while side lighting from 3:00
or 9:00 will help to produce the most
interesting overall lighting. If my light
falls from 12:00, it flares straight into
the lens, depicting my model only as a
silhouette.
 It’s Time for Good Light
Light from 7 o’clock, model 22
facing 6 o’clock.
1 hour “time difference”
produces broad light and
soft, subtle shadows.
 It’s Time for Good Light
23

In order to get a good grasp of the

clock face system, you can look at it
from a different perspective. Think of
a particular light quality as a result of
“time difference” between your camera
and your main light.
First off, the bigger the “time difference”
between where the light and the
camera are positioned (0 to 6 hours),
the stronger the contrast between
highlights and shadows becomes. When Light from 10 o’clock, model turned to 7
o’clock. 3-hour “time difference” equals dra-
the light comes in from 6 o’clock – where matic play of shadows on the model’s body.
the camera is – everything is evenly
illuminated. If we now move our light to
9 o’clock (3 hour difference), we’ll see
a lot of 3-dimensionality thanks to the
interaction of highlights and shadows
on the model’s body. If we push it to the
extreme and position the light source at
12 o’clock (maximum time difference),
the model will be accentuated by a rim
of bright light, the rest of her engulfed
in deep shadows. That’s when she ends
up as a silhouette.
Another time difference worth exploring
is the one between your main light and
the model. If both of them are at the
same position on the clock face, let’s
say 6 o’clock, the front of your model will
be evenly and flatly lit. If not, shadows
and highlights will start to occur on her
body. At a 3 hour difference this effect
peaks in a certain way. The light comes
from her shoulder and floats over her
body. There is a plenty of both shadows
and highlights on her front and back.
If we increase the time difference even Light falls on her face and along her body.
more, the balance of highlights and Our model is looking at 8 o’clock (towards
shadows on the shot will once again the light) while her body is turned away to 4
drift towards a silhouette. o’clock.
 It’s Time for Good Light
24

Light from 11 o’clock, model turned

to 7 o’clock. 4 hour time difference
leads to a bright outline of highlights
along her side.
 It’s Time for Good Light
25

Umbrella from 12 o’clock, model towards 3

o’clock – this results in a silhouetted profile of
our model Pia Passion.
 It’s Time for Good Light
26

Model: Pia Passion, Cologne (Germany)

Pia’s Sedcard at Model-Kartei
 It’s Time for Good Light
27

The images shown in this article are all

one-light photos: I lit up my beautiful
model with a single lighting source
through an umbrella. But, as you might
have guessed, your new system also
works very well for arranging multiple
light sources relative to each other and
the camera.
Now that you can go and start exploring
this system for yourself, you should start
out with a simple one-light setup as well.
Place the light source at your favorite
position and turn your model towards
every “hour” on your imaginary clock
face. After that comes the fun part:
move your main light around her in one-
hour increments. This way you will get
used to this frame of reference and see
which types of lighting are produced by
certain arrangements. This system will
prove invaluable for you when putting
together the lighting in future photo
shoots!
A big, silver reflector at 7 o’clock next to the
camera turns an otherwise black silhouette
into a reasonably lit portrait
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
28

Trouble Talk:
Posing Hands
Un-claw those awkward fingers
using 3 simple rules
By MICHAEL ZELBEL
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
29

In this article you are going to learn how to pose your model’s hands in a way
that doesn’t look weird on photographs. I will show you what issues to watch
out for and how to un-claw the hands of your beautiful subject.

Talking about the subject, we will look at

images from cousin Emily today. Many
of you know Emily from our holiday
extravaganza in Good Light! Mag Issue
3. You may have noticed, that Emily has
small, well-formed, feminine hands. Is
there still a way for the photographer
to screw up a photo due to bad hand
posing? You bet! Yours truly proves it
right here.
Bad hand: Photoshoots are violent. Our poor
The way hands are posed can really model lost her thumb.

make or break a portrait photo. They

are just as important as the face and
they tell just as much of the story.

The video that goes along with this article

is a recording of a webinar, in which
Emily and I demonstrate how hands
communicate good or bad emotions
and how you as a photographer can
drive this.
Bad hand: What feels natural to the model
The core of what I want you to take might look like a disfigured claw
away from this article is my “Three
Holy Hand Rules”. This is a short set of
guidelines which will help you to pose
hands beautifully 90% of the time.

Here’s a catch, though: even I don’t get it

right all the time. I shoot many photos in
which hands are posed less than ideally.
But knowing the above mentioned rules
allows me to nail it much more often;
particularly, it gives me guidance when
shooting those important pictures that Bad hand: Tried to give her a strong and deter-
mined pose? Got a fighter!
demand everything to be accurate.
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
30

Without further ado, let’s have a look at the rules which guide my hand posing:

1. Battle bad hands!

2. Show the sides!
3. Bend beautifully!

The Posing Hands Webinar

The material in this article has been extensively covered in a webinar, which Emily
and I did for ProPortfolioClub.com. Inside the club we typically host a monthly
webinar around topics, which are challenging for our students. We already learned:
hands can be trouble! In some aspects the webinar went deeper into details and
we answered a couple of very interesting questions. It’s well worth to watch the
replay.

Posing hands, one of our monthly webinars at ProPortfolioClub.com.

t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
31

Even small hands look big when

posed square to the lens.
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
32

Three Holy Hand Rules

1. Battle bad hands!

As I have already explained, badly

posed hands can mess up your
portrait photos substantially. In the
accompanying pictures, you can see
just how awkward and unnatural they
look: fragments of fingers “cut off” by
clothing and parts of the model’s body,
excessively bent fingers, wrist positions
that feel comfortable but seem painful Good hand: All fingers visible and slightly bent
and anatomically incorrect – there are
a great many things you can get wrong
if you don’t pay attention to the model’s
hands.

In a way, it is a great paradox of

photography – in order to make a
pose appear effortless and natural in
two dimensions, you usually need to
carefully arrange its every element.
That’s exactly why photographers need
to battle bad hands! The next two rules
Good hand: shown from the side, fingers bent
will explain you just how to do so. gracefully

2. Show the sides!

Whenever possible, pose the hands of

your model so that your lens sees the
side of her hand as opposed to the
palm or the back. The reason for this
is that hands typically look pretty big
when shown from the front or the back.
Large objects draw the viewers’ eyes to
them, and hands shot in this manner will
command a lot of attention from them. Bad hand: Trousers so tight that they are “cut-
This is typically not what we want. ting off” her fingers
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
33

On a two-dimensional photograph we
notice this issue much more than in the
3-dimensional real world, to which our
brain is much better adapted. So while
in the real world we might be able to
focus on the face of a person even
when he or she is actively using hand
gestures, in a photograph our eyes will
jump directly to the hands.

There is one more reason why we

typically do not want to show the backs
of the hands so much, especially when
photographing women: it telegraphs the
model’s age. Don’t get me wrong, she
might even be proud of her age, but there
is a caveat: we usually let our main light
shine on our subject from the side, not
from the front. Interesting light always
comes from the side. When the backs
of the model’s hands are presented
square to the lens, otherwise beautiful
lighting will easily overemphasize all
the grooves, wrinkles and veins on their
surface. This can visually age her 10
years – you never want to do that to
your beautiful model, do you?
3. Bend beautifully!
Fingers, especially female, usually look
best when they are slightly bent. This
communicates a much more relaxed
mood than keeping the fingers totally
straight, and it makes her hand appear a
bit smaller, not drawing attention away
from the face. Don’t overdo it, though –
there is a fine line between “gracefully
bent” and “claw-like” fingers, and it is
very easy to cross it. Needless to say,
making a fist is out of the question,
unless you are making her cosplay a
female UFC fighter!
Good hand: we count five visible fingers
Wait, there’s more
There are a couple of other tips you
might want to consider when posing
hands, even though they are not as
important as the rules explained above.
Don’t let hands point to flaws of the
model’s body. If there is anything that
she does not like about herself, avoid
posing her hands at that spot or let her
fingers point there. Both might draw
attention to something the model feels
insecure about. It might not even be a
flaw for you or the viewers, but if your
model is conscious about it, she will
hate photos on which her hands bring
out exactly what she would rather hide.
When posing the model on the floor,
especially when shooting artistic
photos, let her touch the ground with
her palm and fingertips, rather than
rest her hand flat on the ground. This
adds a lot of gracefulness to the pose
– just like you would ask her to touch
the floor with the toes rather than the
entire foot.
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
Good hand: Pulling
the zipper gracefully. 34
Now that’s a girl!
t
Trouble Talk: Posing Hands
35

Avoid posing the two hands together.

When she is holding or folding her own
hands, it typically does not make for
a charming sight. It’s better to space
her hands out into different positions,
at varying heights. If you really need to
pose her two hands together, then pay
extra attention to the way she is holding
them. Move the hands and turn them
until they look graceful. Don’t sweat it,
just practice it!

Do you feel overwhelmed by the Three

Holy Hand Rules? No problem. Setup a
photo shoot with a friend or with your
spouse in which you care about pretty
much nothing but her hands. Have the
rules on a sticky note attached to your
camera and practice going over them
when posing your model. Would you
like to see how such a practice session
might turn out? Then take a look at the
video in this article!
Bad hand: Caution! She wants to punch in the
lens!
 On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
36

On Location: On- or
off- camera flash?
Boost your lighting with a transceiver speedlight
By Michael Zelbel, visuals by Rufei Ma

When lighting conditions are tricky and
you may have to adjust quickly, it is a
good idea to keep all your options open.
At a senior shoot in a bar, for example,
many photographers would opt to use
either an on-camera flash, which would
allow them to bounce the light off walls,
ceilings and so on, or one or two off-
camera flashes raised on stands and
shot through modifiers as you would
if you were photographing models, for
example.
However, why not get the best of both
worlds and simply use both? You can
always switch off anything you don’t
need when the circumstances are right,
but you still have a much wider choice
than you would if you were only work-
ing with one or the other.
On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
37
For this particular shoot, our model
asked for a Jessica Rabbit theme. She
had organized a very nice bar as the
location, but there was a problem: we
had just 30 minutes to get in, set eve-
rything up, and get out, as the bar was
due to open to the public. So we had
very little time for the actual shoot-
ing, just about twenty minutes, when
it would have been preferable to have
an hour.
In a situation like this, you really do
need to keep everything as simple as
possible. However, we needed a mini-
mum of two lights, although three
would have been better.
We definitely needed a main light, and
so I used an octabox (Phottix Luna)
with a speed light (Mitros+) set at

Styling, mood and the emotional expressions were inspired by a cartoon. Thus we went for strong contrasts in the
light, but avoided complete loss of detail anywhere in the frame.
1/16th. We also needed a rim light, for
which we fired a speedlight through a
Rouge Grid, so that it would not spill
to the surrounding furniture. It would
have been great to have a third light,
but there simply wasn’t enough time to
set it up or use it.
The ambient light was controlled by
the shutter speed and ISO. I had to set
my shutter speed down to 1/60th of a
second and I had an ISO of 320 at f/4.
Cousin Feifei, who was shooting with
me, used the radio controller to control
the off-camera speed lights: the Odin
TCU. I had a joker up my sleeve. I had
my on-camera flash that let me fill in
dark shadows of the bar and on the
On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
38
model, and generally add that little bit
of extra sparkle to the shots. I had the
flash on quarter power and I used a
“foamy black thing,” which was basi-
cally a DIY gobo that shielded the on-
camera flashlight and prevented the
flash from directly striking the model.
See Good Light! Magazine Issue 05 for
details on this one.
When taking photos of our model sit-
ting at the bar, the area behind the tap
appeared too dark. I really needed to
bring the bar to life, but I could not sim-
ply let in more ambient light by low-
ering my shutter speed, as this would
have made the windows too bright.
When you are in these situations, you
For this shoot we had about 30 On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
minutes of time, including setup. 39
 On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
40

can use the on-camera flash to add a

bit of extra light to the dark bar. You can
simply swivel your flash head towards
the bar in order to brighten it up and
add some sparkle.

Another thing I did here - and what you

can easily do in similar poor light situa-
tions - was to use my on-camera flash
to bounce light off some reflective ob-
jects at the bar on to the model to fill
in. The model needed a little bit of ex-
tra fill in her shadows, and I could turn
my flash so that it bounced off a vase
and a fruit bowl on the bar, and it gave
me my fill light very quickly. I could also
bounce the flash off the back of the bar
where there were bottles standing in
rows that gives a similar effect.

For a bit of fill light on the shadow side of her

face and hair, the on-camera flash bounced
light from reflective parts of the bar.

What I also managed to do (when no

one was looking) was to get behind the
bar itself, where I probably would not
have been allowed to be. I didn’t have
much time here because members of
staff had to work in that area setting
things up ready for the bar’s opening
in only a very few minutes’ time.

1) Model I then took some shots directly into

2) Phottix Luna Octabox with
Mitros+ speedlight, manual on 1/16th
3) Speedlight with 25˚ Rouge Grid
4) Canon 5D MK III, 1/60s, f/4, ISO 320 with
Mitros+ speedlight as transmitter
and adding fill light as needed
the rim light from behind the model,
and in this situation I needed a lot of
light from behind the bar, so I turned
my flash on to some glasses that were
standing on the bar. They acted as my
 On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
41

Shooting directly into the bright backlight while using reflective bottles and
glasses behind my back for bouncing a lot of fill light.
 On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
42

Model: SchuSchu
 On Location: On- or off- camera flash?
43

main light. Now you can do all of that

without needing to set up an extra light
stand, and in any case not only did I not
have the time, but I wouldn’t have been
allowed to set up a light behind the bar,
as it would have got in the way of the
staff.

The on-camera flash that I used was a

Mitros+, which is a great piece of equip-
ment since it has a built in radio con-
troller for triggering the other speed-
lights. The controls are easy to use and
enable you to dial the other channels
The ambient light was kept at a low level by
choice of shutter speed, aperture and ISO
up and down rather quickly. You could
do the same thing with the system
flashes of Nikon or Canon, but my own
Canon Speedlites have optical trans-
mission. When I use the foamy black
thing that is shielding the flash from
most of the room, then optical trans-
mission might not be quite so reliable,
so I definitely prefer the radio control
that the Mitros+ gives me.

When you are faced with a tricky light

situation, I hope that this article will
inspire you to give yourself all of the
options, rather than thinking to your-
self that it has to be either on-camera
flash or off-camera flash. ■

The Mitros+ offers quick and intuitive controls

for the on-camera flash (L) and 3 off-camera
flash groups (A, B and C). Check it on Amazon
and on the Phottix Homepage.
 5 Questions for... Brian Smith
44

5 Questions for...
Brian Smith
Portraits, Simple lighting and the Pulitzer Prize
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

Today we are going to tap into the creativity of Pulitzer Prize-winning celebrity
portrait photographer Brian Smith. We are looking at three stunning portraits
from his book “Secrets of Great Portrait Photography”. Each portrait in this book
is a great piece of art - visually intriguing, rich of story. At the same time, the
photos perfectly fit the portrayed subjects.

[MZ]: Thank you so much for taking

the time for this interview, Brian. Let’s
cut right to the chase. We are looking
at couple of your visual masterpieces
here: Alejandro Sanz standing in a huge
swimming pool, Gene Hackman being
the main figure on a giant checkerboard
and the famous photograph of Richard
Branson in a space suite at the beach
of Necker Island. How do come up
with such exciting scenes? How do you
choose such locations?
[BS]: I always try to give myself time
to scout before a shoot, ideally a day
or two in advance. Sometimes I can’t
Brian Smith is always “looking for an element get into the location until the day of
of the unexpected.”
the shoot, so when that happens I get
All photos ©Brian Smith there as early as possible and begin
by scouting the location. I look for an
element of the unexpected. Often it’s
the very first place that catches my
eye, but sometimes I really have to dig
 5 Questions for... Brian Smith
45

to find it. to really fine-tune and highlight and

shadows. Your eye goes to the brightest
[MZ]: All of your subjects are lit so vividly, part of the frame, so controlling that
that they nearly seem jump out of the with light can direct the eye where
photo right into the here and now. How you want it. The balance varies from
do you go about lighting? Do you have

“
shot to shot. There is no hard and fast
a favorite rule but keeping
lighting kit the subject 1/3
and setup
Don’t over-think lighting. stop brighter
when it comes Start with one key light then than normal and
to portraits? the background
1/3 stop darker
[BS]: Most of
blend in the ambient or fill. than normal is a

“
my shots are a Only add more if you really decent starting
mix of natural point.
and artificial need it. I use Profoto
light and the
look is all about how you mix the two. strobes and choose the lighting modifier
Adding strobe to the shot allows you based on the amount of contrast and
how much spread I want the light to
have. My favorite modifiers are a 6’
Elinchrom Octabank for a big soft
even light, a white 20” Profoto Beauty
Dish when I want soft light that’s a bit
more directional and a Profoto Zoom
Reflector because it allows to you to
adjust the beam of light from flood to
spot. l also use bare heads or ring flash
for a bit of snap
Don’t over-think lighting. Start with one
key light then blend in the ambient or
fill. Only add more if you really need it.
[MZ]: I notice you tell a whole lot of
story through the facial expression and
the body language of your subjects.
Does this happen automatically when
working with this kind of charismatic
and determined people or do you have
to manufacture this?
Check out the Kindle Edition of Brian’s awesome
book
 5 Questions for... Brian Smith
46

Gene Hackman portrayed from a dramatic angle for Cigar Aficionado

 5 Questions for... Brian Smith
47

Telling the story of Richard Branson and

Virgin Galactic for Time Magazine
Grammy-winning singer Alejandro Sanz at his house in Miami Beach 5 Questions for... Brian Smith
48

[BS]: Aside from the basics like, “could
you stand over here?” I don’t tell people
what to do, but once they get into a pose
I may ask them to change their hands a
bit or adjust their weight, but those are
really small refinements. I don’t over-
direct. I just try to put them in the right
mood so the pose comes naturally to
them - it’s a pleasant surprise for both
of us when they give me something
they may not have know they had in
them.
[MZ]: You are obviously pretty
comfortable with using wide angle for
portraits. Do you go nice and close and
low when portraying great subjects?
What is your favorite focal length?
What does it do for you?
[BS]: My favorite lens for portraits is
24-70mm because it covers the entire
range that I shoot with most often. Sony
offers a really sharp Zeiss version of that
lens that’s sharper than most primes
in that focal range. I’ll shoot at 24mm
for a horizontal wide-angle portrait
with a lot of environment around the
subject. For vertical full body shots with
environment around them, I shoot in
the 28-35 mm range. If I’m looking for
more or less a normal perspective for
a full-body of half-body shot I’ll shoot
somewhere between 45-60 mm and if
I’m shooting a more intimate portrait
I love 70mm because it’s a bit shorter
than the more traditional 85, 100 or
135mm ‘portrait lenses’ which gives
you a more intimate feel like you’re
just sitting down for a drink with your
subject.
5 Questions for... Brian Smith
49
[MZ]: Do you have a final tip for
amateurs like myself, who want get
good at portraits but probably don’t
really know how to start? Do you think
there is one single most important
thing, which we have nail in order to
shoot great portraits?
[BS]: Absolutely. Get a lot of people
in front of your lens. The best advice
I was given when I was just starting
out, was to go out and shoot portraits
of 50 strangers in a way that captured
their personality. It’s a great exercise
because it teaches you how to interact
with people, put them at ease and
draw out their personality. That’s the
same thing I do every time I shoot a
celebrity for the first time.
[MZ]: I really, really appreciate that you
shared a few of your secrets with us
today in our little interview. Thank you
very much!
For the complete stories behind the
photographs of Alejandro Sanz, Gene
Hackman and Richard Branson as well
as many more examples, please have
a look into Brian’s awesome book
“Secrets of Great Portrait Photography”.
On the book page can read about
the photos shown in this article. Also
check out the Kindle Edition, which is
looking stunning on your Kindle Fire
or your iPad. Take Brian’s tips to heart
and make every subject in front of your
camera feel like one of the celebrities
which Brian typically portraits.
 It’s Time for Good Light
50

Do Not Distort
The right focal length for portrait shots
By SARAH PULVERMUELLER

In this article, Sarah Pulvermueller
invites you into her home studio and
provides you with great tips on how to
find the right focal length for your next
portrait shooting.
In the previous issue of Good Light!
Magazine I shared with you how much
I love shooting people at interesting
spots outdoors. Imagine that you have
fixed a date to do a portrait shooting
outdoors but the day before it becomes
obvious... it won’t work because of
the weather conditions. For me it’s no
problem to change quickly from an
outdoor-portrait-shooting to a studio-
portrait-shooting. Sure, you won’t have
the outdoor scenery but you can easily
make nice portraits of a model at home.
Shooting
Especially during winter it is much more
relaxing for the photographer and the
model to do a portrait shooting indoors.
During a cold and wet weather period
I wanted to take some nice portraits
of Miriam in a natural look with just
a light make-up. We decided to do it
in my studio - also well known as my
living room...
When we were about to start the
shooting, Miriam noticed how I
mounted a lens on my camera. Then
she looked into my camera bag, saw
even some more lenses and asked me:
“Why have you chosen this particular
lens and not one of the other lenses?”
I told her that the focal lengths of a
lens has a big impact on the proportion
of the subject in the picture. She went
on: “How does it change the look of a
portrait?”
It’s Time for Good Light
51
I replied: “Let’s do a little experiment!
I take pictures of you in the same
pose and I am just changing the focal
length!”
Experiment
In theory I knew the effect but I have
never tried this experiment with my
own gear, with the same adjustments
of my camera, the same lighting setup
and the same subject.
The lighting setup was pretty simple:
I used a beauty dish on a studio flash
just in front of the model and a light
grey inflatable background.
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II , full
frame sensor Camera settings:
1/160 sec, f / 8, ISO 100
Lenses that I used for the experiment:
Canon 17-40 mm, f/4.0
Canon 24-105 mm, f/4.0
Canon 50 mm, f/1.8
Canon 85 mm, f/1.8
Canon 70-200 mm, f/2.8
I asked Miriam not to move and to
keep the same pose (and smile) while I
was taking pictures with different focal
lengths but with the same framing.
During this experiment I was using
different lenses to cover the focal
lengths from 17 mm up to 200 mm, as
listed above. Don’t forget that I have
a full frame camera and not a crop
camera. If you are using a camera with
a crop factor then you have to multiply
the focal length with your crop factor.
This could be for example 1,5 (Nikon
APS-C) or 1,6 (Canon APS-C). 50 mm *
1,5 = 75 mm or 50 mm * 1,6 = 80 mm.

The results of the our experiment:
17mm 24mm 50mm
The distortion of Miriam’s face and
body is very obvious when I shot a
portrait with a wide angle like 17 mm
and 24 mm. Shooting with these focal
lengths means that you have to get very
close to the model. When I did this she
was moving backwards automatically,
which is . A clear sign for a wrong
choice of lens or focal length. When I
showed Miriam the pictures she was
shocked about her looks, but I was able
to calm her down when I took the next
photographs.
With a focal length of 50 mm you can
already get a natural portrait of a
person and the distortion is not obvious
anymore. The market provides prime
lenses with a focal length of 50 mm
and an aperture of 1,8 for little money
– like the one I’ve used for taking this
picture. If you don’t want to spend a lot
of money, then this lens is a good option
for starting portrait photography. It
must be said that you can’t take close-
ups with 50 mm. The reasons are that
you would enter the intimate zone of the
person, there might be focus problems
and the distortion effect is back again.
It’s Time for Good Light
52
85mm 200mm
Keep in mind that if you use an APS-C
camera a lens with 50 mm turns into a
75/80 mm focal length!
It is said that a good portrait lens has a
focal length starting from 70 mm up to
100 mm. I’ve used a prime lens for the
85 mm shot and a 70-200 mm lens for
the 200 mm shot. Lots of photographers
love to work with 85 mm or 100 mm
prime lenses. They love the look this
focal length and the image quality.
These lenses are much more expensive
than a 50 mm. Therefore you should
spend this money only once you really
know that you will focus on portraiture.
It can be said that the more you zoom
in, the more compressed and smaller a
face looks. You will also recognize that
the distance between the photographer
and the model expands when using a
long focal length. You can see in the
pictures above that between 50 mm
and 200 mm the distortion has not such
a big impact on the portrait, between
17 mm and 50 mm there is a clearly
visible level of high distortion level.
 It’s Time for Good Light
53
The shooting after the experiment:
What I don’t want to hold back are the results of my portrait shoot with Miriam. I
tried different lenses and focal lengths for different shots. For the postproduction
of the images I’ve just used Adobe Lightroom 4.2.

55mm 93mm 105mm 105mm

Setup a softbox or a small beauty dish as a

modifier and use a reflector to bounce
I used an inflatable grey background, back the light to the face. You do not
which can be carried, in a small bag to necessarily need a snoot for the spot
any location. I positioned a studio flash in the background because you can
with a gridded beauty dish on the left easily add a vignette in postproduction.
side of the camera. A white reflector
was on the right side of the camera,
close to the model. A second studio
flash with a snoot projected the spot
behind the model.
In my home studio I work with a Walimex
studio system. Walimex offers a wide
range of good quality studio equipment
at a fair price. Not everybody who starts
with studio photography likes to spend
thousands of Dollars for lighting. Just
look out for affordable studio equipment
in the beginning.
TIP: If you don’t have any studio lights
you can also do the same photographs
with speedlights. Just use an umbrella,
 It’s Time for Good Light
54
Finally it is up to you which lens you choose from. Use the focal lengths as a style
element for your pictures. Starting from 50 mm up to 100 mm or more you should
test what fits best to your theme best. Try it out and change the focal lengths and
the lens during a shooting and check out the different effects on the image - be
critical and be open for feedback from other people.
Keep distance to your model even if you want to focus on a detail of the face. If
you don’t know the model be respectful and tell the model how you want to frame
the image. The model knows on what part of the body you focus and which other
parts (e. g. hands, legs, feed) the model does not need to concentrate on. Create
a relaxed environment, put on someplay music, prepare some soft drinks and
snacks and watch out that thecare for a comfortable temperature is comfortable.
GA good communication between photographer and -model communication and
relationship is the best basis for great portrait shots.
Finally take your camera and do some focal lengths experimentsexperiment with
focal length like I did - even if you already know the effect in theory. It has not only
a learning effect. It’s fun, too!

Photographer: Sarah Pulvermueller, Germany

Photography is my second language.

I am a passionate photographer from Saarbruecken in the south-westsouthwest

of Germany. Since the last few years, photography became an essential part of
my daily life. I love to shoot aesthetic people photography and touching wedding
photography. The retouching phase is an integral part of my workflow but finally
it’s always the people that make an image unique and fascinating - especially
for the photographer itself.

Homepage: www.sarah-pulvermueller.de
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sarahpulvermueller.photography
Contact: info@sarah-pulvermueller.de

Model: Miriam Sanzo

Cover Photo: “Vision” by Matt Dingley
Vision
55

1. Model
2. White background
Matt Dingley
3.+4. Speedlight & umbrella, slightly elevated
5. Camera 1/200 sec; f/5,0; ISO 200; 30 mm Model: Emma Caisley
 Soft Skills
56

Style File: Soft Skills

A simple exercise to help you master soft light
by Mark Glover, Visuals by Sebastian Dehio and Michael Zelbel

In this article, we’ll talk about how you
can gain a feel for how hard or soft your
light will be in a given lighting set-up.
For this exercise, we wanted to use
something precious for the focal point
of our images. And what could be more
precious than a mother and her unborn
child?
A pregnant mother-to-be is also a very
beautiful, three-dimensional image
that really grabs the viewer’s attention
in certain lighting conditions. So we
recruited Michael’s good friend Kaori
to act as our model for our baby belly
photographs.
Watch the short exercise, which will make you a master of light quality:
Soft Skills
57
A common question from both begin-
ner and intermediate level photogra-
phers is how to master hard and soft
light. Many people think it’s an issue
with their current equipment and spend
money trying to solve the problem. But
in most cases, it really is a simple mat-
ter of technique.
Of course, new lighting equipment
can help, but the single biggest thing
that you can control is the distance be-
tween the subject and the light source.
For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll
show you how you can gain a feel for
the perfect distance yourself by carry-
ing out a certain procedure.

Now, you have to understand that you
do not have to use this exercise eve-
ry single time you experiment with the
distance between the subject and the
light source, but it does help you gain a
natural sense as to whether or not your
light source is in the right place.
To begin the exercise, we placed our 60
x 90 soft-box 8 feet away from Kaori,
using about ¼ of its power. As you can
see in the image below, at this distance
the light is quite hard. We then steadily
reduced the distance in stages by mov-
ing the soft-box closer to our subject
(and decreasing the output as well). We
went from 8ft to 6ft, 6ft to 4ft, 4ft to 2ft
and finally to within 1ft of our subject.
From the image above, you can see
that there’s only a very slight difference
from 8ft to 6ft, but when we decrease
the distance below 6ft, it starts to have
a profound effect on the softness of
Notice how the light changes from hard to soft when decreasing the distance between the soft-box and Kaori’s
belly
8 ft 6 ft
Soft Skills
58
the light. At this point, the light starts
reaching around Kaori’s belly and re-
ally illuminates the subject. When we
move even closer, to 2 ft away, the
lighting is now much softer, and ideal
for really making the most of our sub-
ject. However, for the purposes of ex-
perimentation, and to show you both
extremes, we then moved our light
source to within just 1 ft of our subject.
At this point the light was perhaps a
little too soft, and illuminates almost
the whole belly, but it shows you how
soft you can make the light if you re-
ally wish. Moving it this close will not
harm your subject; it’s perfectly safe.
The final image that we’ve selected is
the one taken from within 2ft of the
subject. As you can see, the lighting is
absolutely perfect, and it really shows
our precious baby belly in all its natural
beauty. This was also Kaori’s favorite.
4 ft 2 ft 1 ft
 Soft Skills
59

A distance of 2 ft or 60 cm seems to
work best with a 60 x 90 cm softbox
when photographing a baby belly.

Models: Kaori and little Sophie, who was

born happily on August 3rd 2013
 Soft Skills
60

Lighting Setup

(1) Model
(2) Black curtain
(3) Softbox 60 cm x 90 cm, Speedlight 24mm, GN58 at
1/4 – 1/32 power
(4) DSLR, full-frame, 1/200s, ISO 320, f/8, zoom at
135mm

This whole exercise is very quick to perform. It should not take any more than
10 minutes of your time. After a while, you will not need to use it, as you will
have developed your own instinct for the perfect distance.
Portraying Female Beauty
During Pregnancy
Posing her for charming
pictures with belly

Lighting setups which

work for bump and beauty

Our best photo ideas

from cliché to creative

PDF eBook
HERE
 Make her happy with aInstant Portrait Light
spontaneous portrait
62

Instant
Portrait Light
a Flash in Your Shopping Bag
By Michael Zelbel

Today I want to share with you an
old German proverb. It goes like this,
“A bag for shopping makes your light
jaw-dropping!” Stop acting like you’ve
never heard it before! Fine, you got
me – it’s not really a proverb; but I’m
German and I use it all the time! In a
couple of centuries it might become a
household wisdom for young photog-
raphers to heed and abide by. I and
the team have also prepared this ar-
ticle on shooting marvelous portraits
with nothing but a speedlight and a
shopping bag, so this blessed time
may come sooner.
If you haven’t yet bought a good se-
lection of gear for conducting photo
shoots, or find yourself deprived of
fancy equipment, or get “stage fright”
working with complex lighting setups,
you will find this article very useful.
You will learn a very simple and effec-
tive trick for quickly taking beautiful
Instant Portrait Light
63
pictures using only the barest mini-
mum of equipment and the slightest
bit of effort. Employing this technique,
you will achieve several goals simul-
taneously: practice your skills, win
the trust of a new model (or a client)
– and immediately impress everyone
around you!
Actually, even if you are an advanced
photographer, you can still benefit
enormously from using this trick. It
works like a charm for ensnaring peo-
ple to do full-blown photo shoots with
you; when they look at the beautiful
pictures that you can take anywhere,
at any time, they can ’t but allow you
to work your magic on them in a stu-
dio! Just like I said, it is a very useful
and impressive technique.
Instant Portrait Light
64
Instant Portrait Light
65
 Instant Portrait Light
66

But enough promises – let’s cut right

to the chase and look into this awe-
some trick in depth!

This is what you will need:

• a white shopping bag roughly 54x44
cm (21x17 inches);
• a speedlight;
• a camera and a model (obviously).

Now, time to pull off our effortless Make a test photo of your bag. Is it glowing
yet so impressive trick. Seriously, it’s white? If not, then adjust your flash power.
as simple as it gets – so you might at
least act all mysterious and imposing,
lest it all seem too easy!

First, calibrate the speedlight to 1/16

power and place it inside the bag,
facing upwards. Next, place the bag
about 60 cm (2 feet) away and slightly
to the side of the model, at a 45-de-
gree angle – so when the flash goes
off it will light her up nicely. Adjust
Make a test photo of your hand. Is the expo-
the camera to 100 ISO and f/2.8 dia- sure correct? If not, then fine tune the flash
phragm, then pick the shutter speed power.
that is right for your lens (we used
1/200s). If your lens is not sensitive
enough to open up the diaphragm
so much, set the camera to f/4 – but
change the setting of the speedlight to
1/8 power to compensate.

At last, point your camera and shoot

away! If you have done everything
correctly, the resulting picture will fea-
ture a lot of soft light in the foreground
and a substantially darker background. Very important: place the bag really close to
your model. Otherwise the light gets hard in-
This type of lighting is very flattering; it stead of soft.
never fails to leave the model thrilled
and asking for more!

Despite the simplicity of this tech-
nique, we still recommend that you
practice it before going out there and
testing your newly acquired skill of cre-
ating ins tant and awesome portraits.
To further smooth out the learning
curve and make it even easier on your-
self, follow these guidelines:
•The bag with the speedlight inside
should be very close to the model, to
the point that, whenever you slight-
ly shift the frame to the side, it pops
into the image. If you need to place
it far away, you’re doing it wrong –
check the settings on the flash and
on your camera, then try again;
•You don’t need an actual model to
practice: just place an object in her
place and take a couple of shots to
get the feel of the lighting;
•When looking at the images in the
tng properly, there should be virtually
none.
Instant Portrait Light
67
•If the colors seem a bit off, check the
white balance. You can see in the
lighting diagram that we used 5600
Kelvin for the shoot, in tune with the
speedlight’s color temperature. Try
not to leave it on auto.
•Here’s a quick way to check the
lighting before the shoot: take a pic-
ture of the bag and see if it’s illumi-
nated completely; next, shoot your
hand next to the bag and see if it’s
exposed correctly. If it’s too bright,
bring down the power of the flash –
if it’s too dark, turn it up.
Now you are ready to go out there
and impress the heck out of every-
one! The beauty of this trick is that
you don’t need a studio; you can pull
this off in a café, in an apartment
– anywhere. As long as you have a
shopping bag and a budget speed-
light, you can make magic happen!

We encourage you to learn this simple
technique and try it out. Heed the wise
saying, “A bag for shopping makes your
light jaw-dropping,” and act upon it –
who knows, maybe it will catch on! ■
Michael Zelbel
Model: Fredau Hoekstra
http://fredauhoekstra.co.uk
Instant Portrait Light
68
Pictures in this article are
100% unretouched – just
to give you a clear idea of
how big a difference you
can make with simple ma-
nipulations like the ones
described in the article.
 My ShotKit: Christopher Norris
70

My ShotKit:
Christopher Norris
A Peek Inside the Camera Bag of a Fashion Photographer

Pre-digital, my day to day film camera was the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. I shot
predominantly with the standard 110mm, but when it came to group portraits,
particularly bands, I used the 65mm, and for beauty and tight portraits, the 150mm.
I still use this system for my personal work.
 My ShotKit: Christopher Norris
71

When shooting this format, your style

of shooting becomes quite considered.
When switching over to digital for
work, my only way to adopt a similar
approach was to shoot with only prime
lenses, hence, my Canon 50mm f/1.2
barely comes off the body.
I’ve also inserted a 4×5 guide on the
ground glass, so that when I shoot
portrait, it’s a more square format than
the regular 35mm, which is always way
too long for editorial.
Inside my Tenba Large Shootout
backpack (from left to right, top to
bottom):

• Grey card
• Canon Speedlight 580EXii
• Power pack for Canon speedlight
• Journalist flash bracket with Canon
flash attachment
• ScanDIsk Compact Cards
• Canon Eos 1Ds MKiii
• Canon 50mm f1.2
• Canon 35mm f1.4
• Canon batteries
• Apple Macbook Pro 15”
• Lacie Rugged
• Minolta Light Meter
 My ShotKit: Christopher Norris
72

• Minolta light meter spot attachment

• Battery charger
• Card reader
• Cables (Tether cable/ firewire 800)
• Lens cloth
• Blower brush
• Mints/ Advil
Currently, I work as a freelance fashion,
portrait and exhibiting photographer.
Since 2003, I have had work published
across major fashion and music titles,
both locally and internationally, and
worked commercially for major brands.
publication, both entitled Yo No Hablo
Last year I held my second solo Espanol, published by Izrock press.
exhibition, in conjunction with my first
Other notable exhibitions include my
first solo show Tumbleweed in 2009
and exhibiting at the National Portrait
Gallery of Australia. ■

See more of Christopher Norris’ work at

www.christophermorris.com.au

Take a peek inside the camera bags of

your favorite photographers to learn what
equipment they use to capture their iconic
images.
 Editor’s Eye

Mitros+
73

TTL
新一代的 flash and Radio Trigger
All-In-One
收發一體TTL閃光燈

Mitros+ Transceiver Flash

What’s the + ?
+Built-in Triggering with Phottix Odin Transmiter and Receiver
+Phottix Strato Receiver
+Memory function - save flash set-up and function info Photo by:

Control Options:
+ 3 control groups - Combine ETTL or Manual modes
+ Adjust TTL in ± 3EV or Manual Full to 1/128 in 1/3 stops
+ Control Flash Zoom
+ 325 feet /100 meter range www.dennispikephoto.com
 DIY Bublewrap Softening Filter
74
By MICHAEL ZELBEL

DIY Bubblewrap
Softening Filter
Lens hood and bubblewrap: a match made in heaven

Gradually, as you shoot more and more various images and tap into different cre-
ative techniques, you will end up with a formidable battery of lens filters for every
purpose imaginable: polarizers, warming/cooling filters, neutral density filters and
many others. This is to be expected, because, let’s face it, filters are cool!

They can help you put a new spin on an otherwise unremarkable photo – and the
best part is, you don’t even have to do anything! All you need to do is install it and
then start taking pictures. For artists who don’t enjoy post-production or simply
want to add a stroke of novelty to an image this is a godsend and a must-have.

But you know what’s even better? Instead of buying a manufactured lens filter,

The components you need for making a bubblewrap filter. As you can see, the end result boasts a
very uneven hole in the middle.
why not make one yourself? Now,
don’t fret – we’re not going to force
you to blow glass and then coat it in
various substances. You know, it would
probably be hilarious for all of us, but
we can only teach you the things we
know and have tried ourselves.
We want to show you how to make a
super-simple filter out of bubblewrap
that you can put on the lens hood
of your camera and use in beauty
photography shoots. Everyone has
a bit of bubblewrap left over – and
even if you enjoy popping it (a pretty
soothing activity, isn’t it?), it will still
make a perfectly decent filter!
One. Place a piece of bubblewrap over
and around the lens hood.
Two. Fix it in place with a rubber band.
Three. Cut an odd-shaped hole in the
middle of the wrap. The magnitude
of “oddness” is up to you – the hole
should be fairly large though.
It’s pretty much impossible to mess
DIY Bublewrap Softening Filter
75
up, so after step three you should end
up with a perfectly usable bubblewrap
filter. Now it’s time for that awkward
moment when you look in bewilderment
at the masterpiece of your making and
ask, “What do I need it for again?”
Let’s see how this nifty little filter can
add to your arsenal of photography
techniques and make your pool of
shooting ideas that much deeper!
With a bubblewrap filter, you can give
those pictures a softer, more romantic
touch, which have a dark background.
Transparent bubblewrap acts as a really
blurry foreground, mimicking the way
sunbeams often bounce off the glass.
In fact, those blurry dots you see are
indeed sunbeams, caught by the wrap
and focused into the lens. That’s also
the reason why this filter needs a dark
background to be effective: adding a
few more light beams into an already
very bright picuture would make not
so much of a difference.

The same set with the bubblewrap filter applied. It adds a very blurry foreground, which lends a somewhat
mysterious feel to the picture. Because it’s nothing but stray light caught in the bubblewrap, it works best with
a dark background like this one.
A super simple artistic set without the bub-
blewrap filter. It is taken with a 50mm prime
lens at f/5.6, like all photos in this article.
“But what can a few faint beads of light
add to my pictures?” you might ask.
Sometimes an image benefits from
a blurry foreground – for instance, if
there is a lot of empty space around
DIY Bublewrap Softening Filter
76
your model that you would like to fill,
but at the same time feel reluctant to
do. That’s when an innocent trick of
light comes into play.
Or you may find yourself struggling
to shoot a tender scene, a display of
softness and affection, and all required
is a subtle touch... of something you
don’t have. Seriously, there is nothing
remotely romantic or soft lying around
on set, a model or models can’t
figure out exactly what you want, and
the background and lighting alone
won’t cut it. In this situation, using a
bubblewrap filter can be a perfectly
valid way to add to the picture’s mood.

This romantic photo could use something to
make it more interesting. Let’s apply the bub-
blewrap filter and see what happens.
As with any other technique that
is meant to enhance photos, don’t
overdo it. A filter should be used as a
finishing stroke, a cherry on top of a
solid “lighting + composition” combo,
just to make things more interesting.
Occasionally it can be used to salvage
otherwise unimpressive images... but
not very often.
Also, it goes without saying that a
bubblewrap filter is, in a way, a lighting
effect – so please don’t pile it on a photo
that already features a distinctive and
imposing lighting pattern. It will look
out of place in it. ■
Oleg Starko
DIY Bublewrap Softening Filter
77
In this set, using the bubblewrap filter adds
much-needed softness to the edges of the
image, making it more subtle by driving the
viewer’s attention away from unnecessary
details and putting primary focus on the
couple’s facial expressions and poses.
Pictures in this article are 100%
unretouched – just to give you
a clear idea of how big a differ-
ence you can make with sim-
ple manipulations like the ones
described in the article.
For more tips & tricks sign up
for our free newsletter:
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Editors
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Germz Nabua

Photos / Videos
Michael Zelbel
Rufei Ma
Sarah Pulvermüller
Christopher Norris
Brian Smith
Mark Glover
Sebastian Dehlo

Postproduction
Renzy Memije

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