A White Shopping Bag Can Help Add Soft Off-Camera Lighting to Portraits
Photographer Michael Zelbel of Good Light Magazine published this short video tutorial on how you can use a simple white shopping bag as a cheap way to add soft off-camera lighting to your portraits.
He then uses his hand as a “stand in” to figure out the proper illumination, and checks his histogram to make sure the highlights aren’t getting blown out. What results from this trick are portraits with a soft and pleasing glow from the side of the frame.
As Zelbel’s “old German proverb” says: “A bag from shopping makes your light jaw-dropping.”
You can find more of Zelbel’s photo tutorial videos in Good Light Mag’s YouTube channel.
(via Good Light! Clips via ISO 1200)
Image credits: Photographs by Michael Zelbel/Good Light Magazine and used with permission
