When it comes to using off-camera flash, especially in portraiture, we don’t always have access to lots of high-tech or expensive strobes and modifiers. Here’s a simple setup that will help you create beautiful soft-edged light images with very little equipment needed.
In this video, Gavin Hoey shows us how to create a simple rim setup with just one light, covers common mistakes, and even shows how you can edit images.
Instead of using a single, small light source to create low-key borders, Gavin suggests using a larger light source such as a softbox or eight-box to create a pleasant soft light that surrounds the model. We can create a pure black background using a black paper or card.
By moving our model closer or further away from the light source, we can change the amount of border light and the level of detail we can see on their faces.
It’s a great result from such a simple setup that you can reproduce yourself in your home studio or even on location. Any off-camera flash behind a white piece of paper with a black rectangular tag will produce the same results.
post-processing
Gavin goes on to show how you can easily create a nice split-tone effect using a color adjustment layer in Photoshop. Normally, you’d need multiple lights with colored gels to create a split-tone effect in-camera, but using Photoshop you can create this stunning effect with a minimal amount of light and processing.
Have you tried creating interesting images with a single lighting setup? Do you have any tips for shooting portraits in single light? Let me know in the comments section.
Image courtesy of Gavin Hoey.
