How can I light full-body fashion portraits in a narrow hallway with one light?
Asked 5/24/2011
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I shoot fashion portraits at home in a narrow white hallway and currently only have one light. I’m trying to make full-body images with minimal shadows from head to toe. What one-light setup works best in a tight corridor, and how can I reduce shadows on the subject and background?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
2
Most effective way of getting no shadows with a single light would be be with ring light around your lens. I'm assuming it's a speedlight, in which case you could add a DIY Ring Flash Kit to your light for this purpose.
Or, you could turn the part of corridor behind your back into a huge ring flash by pointing flash on-axis in opposite direction of the subject. That takes noticeably more flash power though.
My personal preference would be to have some slight shadow by a large light source to make the subject more spatial. To get a large light source, the flash has to be bounced from into wall where you'd normally place a softbox. Use a snoot, barn-door, black card etc. to make sure no direct flash hits the subject. A zoomable flash head lets you control size of the "softbox".
Originally by user4390. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4390
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
With one light in a narrow white hallway, completely shadow-free full-body shots are difficult, but you can minimize shadows.
Best options from the community advice:
- Use a very soft, large light source. In a hallway, bounce your flash into a nearby wall so the wall becomes the light source. Flag the flash with a snoot, barn doors, or a black card so direct flash doesn’t hit the subject.
- Keep the subject away from the background. This reduces visible background shadows and can help the background look less distracting.
- If you want the least visible facial/body shadow with one light, an on-axis light such as a ring light/ring-flash style setup is the most effective.
- A single flash with an umbrella slightly to camera left or right can work for full-body shots, but expect some shadow.
- Slight shadow is often preferable in fashion work because it gives the subject shape and depth.
If possible, add ambient light as fill, but in a small corridor the biggest improvement usually comes from making your one light larger and softer.
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