Interior photography

Click here to view Li Gao’s interior photography portfolio.

In interior photography, there are walls thus white space. If your interior designer have designed the walls to be white (or shades of white,) you can bounce flash off walls to illuminate dark corners and brighten the space. Opposite is true when interior designer / architect designed dark colored walls, but you can easily bring a white reflector (or flat white board) to bounce your flash :)

Click here to view Li Gao’s interior photography portfolio.

When shooting interior photography / architectural interiors, you want to keep F aperture high & ISO low on tripod to get an ambient natural shot (3 multi brackets: dark, neutral, light.) Then flash bounce multiple locations for the best interior photography lighting to post process in photoshop.

Click here to view Li Gao’s interior photography portfolio.

Below compares lens vs flash bounce /natural light for interior photography

• 17mm (hyper distorts perspective but good for small space) vs 24mm (my go to camera lens for interior photography / architectural interior)

• HDR in camera vs HDR in post vs moonlight flash bounce (my go to for interior photography / architectural interior)

Click here to view Li Gao’s interior photography portfolio.

Thanks for reading, until next blog!

Xoxo- Liv

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How to light jewelry on model?

Fill light on the opposite angle to key light.

photographed by Li Gao.

the basic concept of lighting jewelry on model is easy, think of it as a beauty portraiture, but with jewelry being the main star of the show. You need are two lights, light 1 acting as key light (pic 1) Light2 acting as fill light positioned 6hours or 3hours ahead of key light (pic 2)

If you want a high contrast dramatic look, key light alone is enough you can see nice shadow (left face, nose, ears, neck opposite of key light source.) if you want a more evenly lit look, simply use fill light to hit shadows.

Thank you for reading. Until next blog!

-xoxo, L

How to setup E-commerce lighting studio using 2 light heads?

QUESTION: How to setup E-commerce lighting studio using 2 light heads?

ANSWER:

• First light is configured as either Loop or Clamshell. (Selected from how-to-setup-4-lighting-looks-using-1-light-head.)

• Second light is added facing towards the backdrop (or wall) to give that super white background (let’s call this “+high key”.)

• 2 lighting modifiers tested are soft box, and beauty dish with silver deflector.

My favorite 2 light heads lighting setup is Loop and fill reflector +high key: Soft box lights the subject nicely by first diffusing the light that falls onto the subject, and bounces this softened diffused light off of the fill reflector onto subject, illuminating the harsh shadow yet still retaining enough darkness to show structural dimension.

• Beauty dish with silver deflector: gives a sharper texture and higher contrast look, suitable for fashion, beauty, jewelry photography. Think of it as a giant reflector that reflects (and thus diffuses) light before falling onto the subject.

Stay tuned for how to setup lighting studio on boom arm using 1 light head.

Thank you for reading. Until next blog!

—xoxo, L

Clamshell +high key.

Clamshell +high key. Soft box.

Clamshell +high key. Beauty dish with silver deflector.

Loop and fill Reflector +high key.

Loop and fill reflector +high key. Beauty dish with silver deflector.

Loop +high key. Beauty dish with silver deflector.

Loop and fill reflector +high key. Soft box.

Loop +high key. Soft box.

When to use strobe vs continous light?

Li Gao Photography home studio and lighting setup.

Strobe light photography gives a quick burst of light that syncs with the camera shutter. It’s used to freeze motion, capturing only what is moving during a specified time period the camera “sees” the flash. This results in a sharp, focused, and frozen look. Strobe lights include:

• Monolight

• Battery powered strobe

• Power pack

Continuous light photography covers large area of moving subjects. It’s used to shoot videos, think of it as your modeling lamp — what your eyes “see” at the moment you snap is what you get on the captured digital file. This results in a soft, natural, and blurred look. Continuous lights include:

• LED

• Tungsten/hot light

• Fluorescent

• HMI & plasma light

I been using natural (sunlight) and monolight strobes, but am considering continuous lights (specifically LED) that can be used for photography and videography (cinemagraphs, moving images, motion pictures.) That way I can create premium photo AND video, emulate sunlight both indoor and outdoor… all from the same shoot, anytime, anywhere!

Thanks for reading. Until next blog!

—xoxo, L

How to setup 4 lighting looks using 1 light head

QUESTION: How to setup 4 lighting looks with 1 light?

ANSWER:

• 1 light head positioned as key light.

• 1 reflector acting as fill

My default 1 light head lighting setups are either Loop (beauty dish silver deflector) or Clamshell (soft box). Things change when boom arm grips, light modifiers and light helpers are added.

Stay tuned for How to setup E-commerce lighting studio using 2 light heads.

—xoxo, L

Loop.

Butterfly

Clamshell

Split

Loop Soft box.

Butterfly Soft box.

Clamshell Soft box.

Split Soft box.

Loop Beauty dish silver deflector.

Butterfly Beauty dish silver defle

Clamshell Beauty dish silver defl

Split and fill reflector soft box