Photography ideas, camera & image editing

Formal Portrait are usually taken within a studio environment. It is usually intended to depict the Subject in the most presentable manner. The following is a typical studio setup for taking Formal Portrait. This setup is fairly common for home studio as well.

The common accessories for such a set up include the followings:

1. Lighting. Most often the set up consists of a Main light plus one or two Fill Lights.

Typically, the Main light is stronger than the Fill light. Fill Lights are positioned in areas where the main light is not illuminating. The purpose of the Fill light is to prevent stark and dark shadows.

2. Light Reflectors. These are used to bounce light towards the subject. Umbrella is often used for this purpose. To use the reflector, lighting bulb must face away from the subject. Instead the light bulb is pointed towards the umbrella. The umbrella, in turn, will reflect light towards the subject. Because light is scattered and defused by the reflector, the resultant photo is often more beautiful, softer and less stark.

3. Light modifier. These are usually diffusers made to soften direct lighting.

4. Backdrop. There are several options for backdrops. This includes large paper draps and muslin fabric backdrops. To prevent sharply angled shadows, the backdrops are often allow to flow vertically from the top to horizontally on the floor, forming a 90 degree angle.

5. Posing aids and props. These are used to help the subject pose better. This may include things like chairs, stools and/or other types of furnitures.

Because of the artificial lightings used, appropiate White Balance setting must be taken into consideration.

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