2020 certainly hasn’t been without its surprises, and although many of us will be glad to finally put it behind us, let’s look back over the past 365 sleeps to see what was at least popular in the JHP Archives.
Number 1
Lighting Setup: Bounced Top Light
A simple yet effective lighting setup is unsurprisingly always a popular article and if it includes a lot of colour and it can all be achieved in a tiny space like a home studio, it’s an almost guaranteed top spot contender!
This Bounced Top Light setup is easy to do and also requires next to no fancy kit and modifiers either, if you somehow missed my most popular article of 2020, be sure to check it out and give this one a go yourself.
Number 2
Using Low Contrast Lens Filters in Portraits
Why are so many cinematographers using Low Contrast filters today? Should you be using them for your work? Are they only for lights, or can you use them on your camera lens too? And are they different to the ‘diffusion filters’ you use on your lens?
If any of that sounds like a question you’d like the answer to, head on over and check out my monster article on low contrast filters and see if you can’t breath some more organic looking life back into your crisp and clinical looking digital shots.
Number 3
Lighting Setup: Foreground Flare
Another quick and simple lighting setup makes it into the 2020 top 5 and for good reason, this one creates a very unique look thanks to its foreground element, and once again it can all be achieved in a home studio space too.
If you’re after a simple lighting setup that adds a creative element in the foreground via hand-held household objects, be sure to check this one out, and like I said, due it’s foreground element, this creates a very unique look every single time you try it!
Number 4
DIY Scrim/Silk Frame For Huge Diffused Lighting Modifier
Ever wanted to get beautifully soft and diffused light? Not sure you want to commit to the cost of a ginormous soft box? This article shows you a DIY scrim I made for next to no money and it can all be dissembled and reassembled as many times as you like. These huge scrims are common place in TV and cinema as they are great lighting modifiers for location based shoots. If you think you’ll be shooting on location too, be sure to see if you can add this homemade modifier to your collection.
DIY Scrim/Silk Frame For Huge Diffused Lighting Modifier
Number 5
Lighting Setup: Diffused Scrim Lighting at Home
Just made your DIY Scrim from the previous article? Want to use it to create some beautiful looking portraits? This article has you covered and in here I explain everything you need to know about making the most from you scrim. This article explains a variety of lighting setups for you to try and from beautifully soft light to the more engaging combination of hard light and gobo light, this article surely has something for you.
So there you have it, the top 5 articles from the Jake Hicks Photography archives of 2020. 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 2020 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.
Don’t miss a killer article in 2021!
Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to be sent all of these photo tips and techniques articles every month in case you miss one.
Have you downloaded my FREE 50 page book yet?
I recently released a huge 50 page studio lighting book, absolutely free!
Book 1 - ‘Understanding Light’ is available now and it covers the fundamentals of reading the light in a studio. Follow the link below and download your copy now. This book is free to anybody who wants to check it out, but all donations to the project are certainly greatly appreciated.
