Master Full-Length Portrait Lighting: Pro Secrets Revealed!

[@emrah2024]

You are the lord of the photography! Thanks Carl

[@Ifatc]

agreed, but he is also a commoner of the audio

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you kindly

[@VisualEducationStudio]

@Ifatc ha ha we've since made some improvements on the audio.

[@emrah2024]

@@Ifatc 🤣 Nobody is perfect

[@emrah2024]

@@VisualEducationStudio I do agree that audio could be better. Mouse made us crazy :)

[@alexanderpons9246]

Fantastic content like always Mr. Karl Taylor thank you! I was approached to do Digitals for few models and after watching this video my wheels got turning and have many ideas. Much success and Health to you Mister!

[@MrSunamo]

Another host of great tips, thanks Karl!

[@atogweoghieaga2205]

You cannot beat genuine experience driven by passion and persistence. You create incredible imagery because of the time and focus you have invested in the art but also the science of photography! You are the masters indeed !!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you kindly.

[@marcoemmeph]

Thank you Karl. This was just wonderful!

[@perrysmithphotography2915]

Thanks for posting these BTS tutorials...concise, clear and impactful...The information provided has a way of residing within the "tool kit" while on shoots!

[@josephchan4198]

Great for parttime work, hobby, or personal work. Thanks.

[@ДмитрийСтепанов-р9г]

Thank you very much for the light diagrams and detailed explanations of how the light works on the model.

[@josephchan4198]

Watching the video again. Great tips for personal work or Campaign for the holidays or have a special event. Awesome!!

[@franckdenis2386]

Many many thanks for that video. So interesting. I learn so many things !!

[@kreygscott]

Great video Karl. I think it's so important in this day and age of AI Plagiarism (AIP) that we show photographers not only how to improve their photography but how to create amazing photos using affordable tools. Thanks for sharing mate.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Welcome, thank you.

[@jaimesilva_photographya]

Thank you Karl. Very very interesting and useful ideas. I will try a few of them.

[@joalva63]

Thanks for sharing!

[@kunaldebbarma77]

Great tutorial of using light air.

[@messylaura]

great little vid Karl, thanks

[@VisualEducationStudio]

No worries

[@vinciandres]

Me encantó, gracias.

[@rajeevphotogrphy208]

thank you for the another master class my honorable teacher

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you.

[@carlossouthward8578]

I enjoy watching you.

[@luissalazar2021]

I love your style, studio, and amazing energy,.thanks for sharing

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you.

[@Nick-13]

Thank you Karl, very interesting - great BTS views

[@bulletsie]

Love that last setup. As a hobby photographer Would love my own studio space someday with high ceilings! all my work is done in a buddies kitchen so dealing with 6x3m room size and 2.4m high ceilings, so not a lot of room to experiment with modifers up high, WOW that is a lot of studio space you have love it.

[@YouTubeer-t7s]

thank you Carl

[@ottawamountainman]

Great video. Thanks!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

You're welcome!

[@directorsbsbpictures7595]

Amazing

[@mohikan2226]

Fantastic, thankyou.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you too

[@MrM0ke]

Great Video Carl, thanks a lot for all your explanations and hints! What a great learning experience... One thing you might want to improve: Whenever you are working on your Mac (opening another file, browsing, ...) we can hear your harddrive(s) working. Not too bad, but watching your video on proper speakers or headphones could probably be improved by isolating your microphone from these sources of noise.

[@nishadbabu5249]

Carl, a short suggestion on medium format camera, which is the best one at present?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

I use the Hasselblad X2D.

[@ianchappytube]

A question please: using a long softbox, the actual light source (bulb) is in the middle. My observation is that the middle area of the subject receives the most light and the area covered by the top and the lower part of the soft box doesn't receive the same amount of light. Am I observing this 'fall off' correctly? I have started to photograph long objects (e.g. fishing rods) with constant lighting now not flash, i.e. very bright LED strip lights, so that the whole subject receives the same amount of light with no fall off. Any comment please Karl?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Hi, a poorly designed softbox will not spread the light evenly. The purpose of a softbox is to provide an homogenous surface of light (the opposite of gradient lighting which we cover here: visualeducation.com/section/getting-started-in-product-photography/) a good softbox should have a shiny silver interior, a first layer of diffusion and then a second layer, in shallower softboxes such as an octabox they thicken the first layer of diffusion in a circle just in front of the flash tube. Some softboxes also have the option for a third front layer but this is usually not necessary.

[@alexandrkhmelevskyi]

Even Karl's assistants look like works of art.

[@jeremygerard8306]

ew

[@andrewclifton429]

This is a great video, but I'm struggling to find a UK supplier of 8ft x 4ft poly boards for the equivalent of $10 each, as mentioned by Karl at 7:30. Best price I could find from an online supplier was £42 + VAT each. To recreate Karl's setup, I need 3 of those (one for the lid on top), plus two poly board stands at £45 + VAT. The kicker is the delivery charge: an extra £100. So that's £379.20, altogether... Not exactly bargain basement, in my world!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Have you been to your nearest large size builders merchant and asked for polystyrene insulation boards? Our local DIY merchant has them but some now have silver on one side but you can still paint them black one side and white the other. Get a mate with a van to help you collect them.

[@andrewclifton429]

@@VisualEducationStudio @VisualEducationStudio Thanks, this is really helpful. I made the mistake of including the word "photography" in my search for polyboard - I should have remembered that any product sold specifically to photographers is far more expensive than the exact same thing sold to normal people! It turns out, my local Wickes sells "Jabloor Polystyrene Insulation Board - 2400 x 600 x 50mm" for £11 + VAT - and delivery is just £7. Not bad at all. And for a stand, I'll be following a suggestion from Jake Hicks Photography, to use a simple, aluminium bicycle stand (just £14).

[@fotogfitzfoto412]

@@andrewclifton429If you can screw three pieces of MDF together, you can make as many as you like.

[@fotogfitzfoto412]

Surely hardness and softness of the light is a function of the relative size of the light to the subject, while diffusion affects the contrast/specularity of the light?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

The size of the light (or more importantly the relative size of the light to the subject from the subjects perspective) dictates the type of shadows cast, the sun is huge but far away so it acts like point light source creating sharp shadows, if it was further or any light source was relatively smaller then the shadows would be sharper until the theoretical 'point light' source. If the light is large regardless then shadows are soft or barely visible as light is coming in from all possible angles where it is not blocked. Diffusion evens out an uneven light source to create a more homogenous light - think two layers of diffusion in a softbox make it almost homogenous, another layer of diffusion in front of it will only make the light softer if the diffussion is bigger than the original softbox and therefore making the softbox appear bigger. The exception to this is a large light source that projects collimated light meaning that the large light will mostly only be visible to the subject that is perpendicular to the light source, in this case If a subject was off to the side then the light source would not appear as large because the reflected light would be going in the wrong direction but if you placed a same size sheet of diffusion infront of the light source then the light would scattered in all directions making the light now visible to subjects that were not perpendicular to a collimated light source. There are variables to all of this if the light source is big but not homogenous or if a big light is used at a certain exposure level and a point light source that is brighter is placed in front of it. A technique that I use and teach regularly.

[@robnolan1948]

where do you get the white prop boxes from?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

visualeducation.com/class/studio-blocks-and-frames/

[@Tod_oMal]

Thank you! Could I use just white cardboard panels instead of polyboard white panels? Or will that not give the same light effect? I ask this because I already have white cardboard panels and after watching your video I am not sure I am getting enough good quality light and maybe I should change to polyboard.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Any white board would work as long as it's white, it's the size that matters.

[@Tod_oMal]

@@VisualEducationStudio Thank you!

[@kingbreaux5999]

how many watts were the lights

[@VisualEducationStudio]

My lights have a maximum power output of 3200J of flash if used at power 10 but they are most often used at around power 7-9 so that would be 400-1600J

[@davidgustavsson5180]

I would like to see how to light for a group shoot. Not a "family portrait" but something more like a music group. 3-6 people, or a group fashion shot.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

visualeducation.com/class/group-photos/

[@taunitar112]

the sound when you using the mouse is quite annoying, buy mousepad :D

[@taunitar112]

nice video btw

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Yes sorry about that we've since made some improvements on the audio.

[@fotogfitzfoto412]

The background sounds of your laptop use are distracting and eventually become annoying.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Yes that's correct and we filmed about 6 videos consecutively like this before we noticed and fixed it.