Lighting on the Cheap. Under $100

I shot this set with Deanna Marie Hill with a lighting set up that is not a DIY for under $100.

I used a used Quantaray hotshoe flash that I bought used at a camera repair shop for $20. I used a cheap, very basic lightstand that you can get for under $19. An umbrella adaptor that was less than $17, an white shoot through umbrella for $7 and a wireless trigger that you can get for under $19. I'll show a short video of the rig on Wednesday. Here is Deanna...

This is the lighting rig. Deanna is getting ready.

With lighting.

Natural light only.

With added light.

Photographing Catwoman Part 2

Catwoman Charly Aguirre with Hula Hoop

We set up in the street, using the porch lighting from one of the businesses, I used the other strobes, with the softbox and the silver bowl reflector, set to either side of her and later both of them to her right. I had to use a tripod and set the shutter do 1/40 and 1/30^th speed so I could catch a little ambient light. I also set focus in manual mode so that the camera would fire rapidly as she worked with the hula hoop. 


Thinking back on this, if I were to shoot this again, I would add one or two more strobes to push light into the background or raise my iso, because I still did not get the level of ambient light I wanted.

On the train platform

After the ally, we walked back to the street and another half block onto a Trax (the local commuter train) platform. I set lights on either side of her and Steve had to watch the light at the edge of the platform as trains and passengers came by.


 Again, I used the softbox to camera right and the silver reflector bowl to camera left, both roughly in the same plane as the model. I used a tripod to help keep the shutter speed slow. Steve shined a flashlight into Charly's eyes to help the auto focus function more quickly.


I used a small flashlight to put enough light on Charly's face for the auto-focus to be able to see. I will be making some changes to my gear set for night work to make this aspect work better for me. I'll post on that later.

Downtown SLC, Utah at Trax Station

Again, I used the softbox to camera right and the silver reflector bowl to camera left, both roughly in the same plane as the model. I used a tripod to help keep the shutter speed slow. Steve shined a flashlight into Charlys eyes to help the auto focus function more quickly.

By moving the one light in front to a few different positions, we quickly found several looks that I liked. Experimenting with the possibilities is one of the fun aspects of playing with light.

Catwoman among the Christmas lights in Salt Lake City

For the next location we moved about 100 feet and used a large tower/sculpture. I set one strobe behind the model and to camera right, hiding the light with the leg of the tower. Steven manned the other light, standing to my right, and we decided that we liked a couple of looks. One with the light high to the right and in front of the model and the other with the light low and to camera left as Steven held the light stand across me, shinning up at Charly. Both of these setups gave a nice specular highlight along the edge of the catsuit and showed of our model’s shape.

I will have an interview with Charly on my post tomorrow at SparkyModels.

Photographing Catwoman: Part 1

Last week I had the opportunity to photograph Catwoman. Here is how it happened:

The shoot involved 4 people, me, the model, a makeup artist, and an assistant. As I chatted with Charly back and forth about ideas, I interviewed her about things she liked to do and discovered that she owned a cat suit and that she liked to hula hoop. I envisioned a catwoman on a train platform with a hula hoop, among other things. I had already scouted the area we used and so I new it would work for us.

We used 3 locations in the space of a 10 minute walk in downtown Salt Lake City. I also knew a couple of makeup artists that could do this well and made my calls. Then I asked around in some of the photography groups in the area to see if anyone would come and assist me with lighting and carrying  stuff, etc. With everything lined up we met at a Carl’s Jr hamburger shop, ordered drinks and fries and Jillian went to work turning Charly into Catwoman. One of the things I need to do better is estimate the amount of time it takes to create specialized makeup. I figured an hour, but it was a bit over an hour and a half.

Steve and I chatted and talked to my model. I like to use time like this to get to know models better. It helps create a better working relationship for the shoot. I have to admit that we did get a number of curious onlookers and a few questions as we got ready. About 10 minutes before Jillian was done working on the makeup, my assistant, Steve, and I went out to my van to finish getting the lighting gear ready.

For my lighting gear, I was using a pair of hotshoe strobes. Just a simple, but powerful pair. Each strobe was on a stand with a bowens mount and a 36” softbox on one and a silver reflector bowl on the other.

Once the makeup was done and Charly was converted into a full fledged catwoman, we walked a half a block to a covered alley with a mixture of textures and colors (along with yummy restaurant smells and rotten food odors). I had Charly go down into a descending basement stairwell and measured for light. I had Steve hold the strobe with the silver reflector over her head. There was a metal grate overhead that functioned as a cuculoris. 

I did not backlight the stairwell for part of this series to keep it darker and more mysterious.

On Friday I will post the rest of this shoot along with an interview with our model Charly.