Everyday Blackdrop: A 30 Day Lighting Project
I've been feeling kind of stuck recently with how I how subjects. I guess stuck isn't necessarily the right word. You know how people usually have a few go-to food choices and they rarely ever stray from those? That's how I've been feeling with my portrait lighting. Every photographer has a few lighting setups that they use which they know will work if all else fails. I feel like I've been relying on these choices like a crutch. It's not that I don't know other lighting techniques, I know more than I'd ever need, it's more a feeling of a lack of creativity.
So I came up with an idea to change all of that. I thought I'd share not only the results with everyone but the process as well. The idea is to strip photography down to its core, lighting. Every day I'm going to be shooting a photo with a completely differently lighting setup from any of the previous days. Since I only want to focus on lighting exclusively, I'll be shooting on a black backdrop without any props or any kind of set design. This way, the only thing I need to focus on is the lighting. The lighting becomes the star, so it has to be good.
I've already been doing this now for a few days and it's already having a positive effect on me. Every day I get into the studio and without even thinking about it, my minds already racing with the possibilities of what I'm gonna do today. It's a really great way of enhancing your creativity and pushing you to always try to move forward with your work.
I'm trying not to preplan anything beforehand because I want the experience to be free-flowing, but it's a little hard not to when the floodgates of creativity are lowered. I'm excited for what's to come and I'll be sharing all 30 photos later on once I finish up the project. I'm planning on making a few videos on lighting coming up soon and I'll go into detail all about how I lit every single photo I shot.
I honestly haven't been this excited for a project in a while and I can't wait to show you. Feel free to join me in my endeavor and try this project out for yourself. Even if you aren't feeling stuck, it's a great way to get better at photography by thrusting yourself head first into learning how to properly light your subject matter. It's also a low-risk way of trying out a new technique while you're not on the job so that you can effectively use what you've learned when the real deal happens. Until next month, stay tuned for what's in store ^_^.
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