Photography Lighting

Aug 24, 2012

Tessa C.

I get by decently by taking my pictures in natural light with a flash, but I never get quite what I want.
There are many photos on here where the colors are true to the product and nothing is lost.
How do you get these photos without a whole portrait studio set up? (Trust me, i'll end up with one of those one day, but for the broke me today, i'll have to wait!)

I've been looking at a few macro ringflashes for my dslr (but holy bejeebus those get expensive real fast), but what do most of you use?

Aug 26, 2012

Jim J.

I'm a full-time commercial photographer. If you provide some links to specific images of the looks you're trying to achieve, I can probably give you some pointers.  :)

Aug 28, 2012

Tessa C.

(sorry for getting back so late!)
Thanks for your offer! Here are two that I found:
http://www.beautylish.com/f/apqmrw/like-a-pink-and-yellow-neon-sign-close-up?ref=modal
http://www.beautylish.com/f/avavnu/orange-liner-for-fall

I like how in these images the makeup colors are bright and there really aren't any shadows to darken any part. Also the skin looks more natural compared to the way skin looks under direct flash. 

Aug 28, 2012

Jane W.

Try not to use a direct flash, but diffuse it with something (a plastic bag can be a good example) and make sure your using the manual settings on your slr, auto and aperture priority are pretty awful for capturing colours and not washing them out.
Also playing around in photoshop with levels and brightness settings can help =]

Aug 28, 2012

Magan R.

What kind of camera are you using if is an slr you may need to change your aperture setting 

Aug 28, 2012

Tessa C.

The plastic bag is a good idea!
And changing the aperture should be good, too. I'll fiddle around with that next time i'm shooting :)
Thanks for the advice!