Hi,

Today I will show you how to set up a lighting in the studio for that "Old Hollywood" style. It is very easy, I myself did it in the comfort of my own home. The natural light for this photoshoot should be easy to manage, preferably use a room with less penetration of the sunlight or try doing it later in the day when the Sun starts to set. If you are using a room with lots of sunlight, try to minimise the amount of light coming in by drawing the curtains.

Managing the light

Here, I've created a lighting diagram. I've used the Web site: http://www.lightingdiagrams.com/Creator
So it's basically a Web site/tool called "The online Lighting Diagram creator" and you can manage and insert the backgrounds, light sources, reflectors and props into your diagram and afterwards export it as a PNG, JPEG or an URL format.
In the diagram/image above you can see where I've put the black reflectors. If you don't have black reflectors, you can use black sheets of fabric or black paper. In the online diagram you can't remove the white background which is set. I didn't use a white background, but in the image it represents the white wall in the room. So the black reflectors were covering the wall and the windows on the right side. The only place where I didn't use the reflectors is in the area behind where the model stood. The reason for that is that the reflectors lowered the exposure/amount of brightness in the room, so that there is no reason for covering the whole wall and your photographs won't end up being to exposed/bright. You also get to keep a natural background atmosphere of the room.
The light was put on the left side in front of the left side reflectors. The light is tilted towards the models right shoulder (it is not lit exactly in the face). I've used a beauty dish antic-eye lamp.

The shots

The camera stand is set up underneath the lamp. On the right side of the lamp.
For portraits use a long lens, preferably, at least 100mm. I've used my Nikon COOLPIX L830 16 megapixel camera which has an 34x optical zoom lens plus a 68x dynamic fine zoom. The COOLPIX L830’s 34x optical zoom lens goes from wide-angle—great for portraits and landscapes—all the way up to telephoto—great for closeups of sports, concerts, nature and more. When you need even more reach, zoom up to 34x with optical zoom and 68x with Dynamic Fine Zoom, an enhanced digital zoom function that effectively doubles your reach.
The menu is easy to use, you can easily change your picture settings. I've set up my camera to low key settings, which is great for making your photographs dark and noise-free and my scene was set up as portrait scene.
The photographs were taken in colour, which I have later edited in Photoshop. I've only removed the colour from the pictures and altered the exposure and shades in some of them.

The final pictures

So, here are some of the final photos of my best friend and I.

That's all from me for today. Hope you like the post, I have really enjoyed making it. If you like the post and have any questions be free to ask in the comments, I would be pleased to answer.

Spreading the love,

Emma Stephanie
xx

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.s.gaunt/