Mishka's Studio - A Simple Photo Shoot using Natural Lighting!

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Hi folks,

Last month I discussed the selection and usage of lighting gear and how the selection of lights play an important role in your photos.

This month, I am showing a photoshoot using a setup in my home that used natural light alone. This is very useful if you want those natural light shots that create great ambience and feel. I know of several people here who use natural light for most of their shots, with a few low key incandescent lights to bring out the darker shadow details. In this photoshoot I used flames from the fireplace to bring out the color and feel. Sometimes, these shots are very pleasing to look at and result in different results compared to your typical photostudio lighting.

Sometimes, these principles can be applied to outdoors, where most of the light comes from natural sources, and shadows from trees can create a nice feel as well. Have a look at these few more recent photos.

These pics all feature the beautiful Yuki head from YL and their YL155D doll which is very popular. These were from a set I was asked to do for YL last year.

Just remember, natural light can be fantastic, but you will need studio lights when lights arent optimal or you're going for those hi-key lighting effects made famous for magazine shots.

 

In the next few shots, the sun was occluded due to its low angle and that prevented those harsh shadows and blown highlights you often get. A solution for those pics where the sun is high in the sky requires flash strobes and ND filters, and advanced manual controls. I should mention that I shoot in manual mode and manual focus for many shots due to me using DoF and low F-stops where focus is important.

I rarely show the entire body without some intentional blur, as that's a consequence of my style.  Where you have sharp reflections off some doll's skin, use powder to dull that effect.

In the indoor shots, shutter speeds were set at around 3 seconds, and the fireplace was an issue, as the lighting would change if the fire changed brightness, That's just why I used a longer exposure to normalize and integrate the light variance.

Scenes like that with the formal red dress, and food plate all took a long time to prepare, as did the fireplace to get right - but the beauty is that

the food plate and red wine constitute edible props -  felt great and made me feel just right!

Mishka

Click on image for gallery

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Comments

Your photos are really luscious and a really good reminder to people that natural light and patience and in particular the patience of a doll, and attention to detail, are all that are needed for a good photo. Pro equipment for lighting just isn't necessary and all that's really important is a photographic reflector. A 110cm silver/gold reflector is only around $20 and makes all the difference if one can catch a beam of sunlight.

Best wishes and all encouragement

Harem

My fav way to shoot ... your images are be beautiful yes

Beautiful photos indeed! I can see that you have made them with love, skills and a lot of hard work.

Thank you once again.

 

Stellai 

winkThe subject is very sensual and captured in a unique way.The lightimg and colors are special for setting the mood!heartyes

Hi Mishka, the pics in front of the firplace are remarkeable, true pieces of art. Thank you for sharing the tips. Chris

I really appreciate the great comments. I do love this hobby, and really love these gals. I recon this comes out in the pics.