With 2020 less than a fistful of hours away, let’s look back over the past 365 sleeps to see what was popular in the JHP Archives.
Number 1
Lighting Setup: The Corona
Even though this article in only weeks old, it quickly stormed to the number 1 spot. My new ‘Chroma’ lighting setup has certainly proved popular with many, and for good reason. This lighting technique shows you that you can produce engaging and dynamic lighting on a subject with minimal effort, space and equipment… No wonder this article saw such success.
Number 2
Emulating Dappled Light in the Studio
Ever seen some beautiful light pouring through tree branches on a warm summers day and thought, ‘I wish I could recreate that in the studio’. Hard sunlight is tricky at best to recreate in the studio, but couple that with some beautiful dappled shadows and it becomes nearly impossible. Thankfully, I finally found a solution and it’s actually not to tricky to do, it just uses a clever little hack to make to it work. Take a look at this dappled lighting in the studio setup and see what put this article in this years number 2 spot.
Number 3
Optical Snoot Review
As luck would have it, number 3 here follows on nicely from the previous article. As I mentioned above, creating very hard, directional light in the studio can be tricky. Sure there are lighting modifiers that can make it happen, but they tend to be a little pricey. Our third most popular article of 2019 goes over and reviews an alternative, the optical snoot. So if you’re after a way to create some very hard light in the studio that wont cost more than a family holiday to the riviera, check this out.
Number 4
Imitating Hazy Backgrounds with Diffusion Gels
Coming in at number 4 is a hefty article on how to imitate a foggy, hazy background behind your subject. Ever wanted to fire up the smoke machine but space and fire alarms have prevented you from pulling the trigger? Maybe you already have a smoke machine and love using it, but would really like to only limit the smoke effect behind the subject and not all over the front of them. This article on how to imitate hazy backgrounds has you covered. Side note: This was actually one of my favourite discoveries in the studio for 2019. I can’t wait to use it again sometime soon.
Number 5
DIY Mottled Backdrop
Last but certainly not least, here’s a clever hack to make those fancy mottled backdrops for next to nothing. Mottled backgrounds are making a comeback and thanks to big budget editorials in the likes of Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, those terrifyingly cheesy cloudy backdrops from your school photo, can actually look good. So although the best of these unique canvas backgrounds can cost many hundreds of dollars to buy, we can also make a version that is pretty effective for less than $20! Intrigued? Check the article to learn more.
So there you have it, the top 5 articles from the Jake Hicks Photography archives of 2019. I hope you all found something useful in there and I hope you all learned a tip or two. Big thanks to all of you who stuck around during 2019 to check these out as they were published and if you missed any of them at the time, I hope this was handy refresher of the best of the best.
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