I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️
PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.
||
PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||
This is certainly one of my more abstract techniques, but if you’re someone who isn’t afraid to play with new ideas and enjoys the process of actually creating some cool effects in-camera, this one should be a bit of fun. Plus, the shots look pretty cool too!
Thankfully, contrary to many of my other techniques, this one is super-simple.
Step 1: Buy yourself a small metal grid sheet
Step 2: Hold the metal grid in front of your camera
Step 3: Press the button
Now that everyone young enough to own a TikTok account has gotten bored and wandered off, let me go over a couple more details.
Adding flares and diffusions to your shots is a lot more fun when you actually do it in-camera!
The Metal Grid
A while ago, I noticed sunlight casting lines across a chain-link fence when I squinted my eyes. It sparked an idea that the same light-play may also happen if I scaled it down. And I mean, all the way down to an A4 sheet of metal mesh.
The images I’m sharing here are the results of my very first play and test of this metal grid diffusion filter idea. I pretty much just bought the first sheet of metal mesh I came across and have only tested that one out so far. But after seeing the results, I think I’ll pick up some other variations and give those a try too, as I can certainly see the bones of an interesting concept, and I’d encourage you to play with some variations of this too. Below is what I did and what I learned from that initial test.
The Setup
The core of this setup is obviously the metal grid, but for some ideas on how to get the best results, I simply recommend shining a hard light straight into it from behind the subject.
Cut out and keep!
As you can see in the setup example above, placing a hard light behind the model and shining it back at you and the grid will give the best results. It’s also worth noting that the hard light behind doubles up as a hair light on the model, while also creating the flare and diffusion across the metal grid.
Modifiers
By all means, try a variety of lighting modifiers on the light that will be hitting the grid, but I would recommend starting with a hard light. This provides a couple of benefits, but chief among them is light control. We don't want a ton of light spilling all over the room and washing out the shot.
If you need some tips on hard light modifiers, then think of any modifier that is small and tightly controls the light. For example, a snoot, grid/honeycomb, optical spot, spotlight and even barn doors will work.
The Metal Grid
I simply went to Amazon and pretty much bought the first wire mesh sheet I came across to test it out. These metal mesh sheets are often used in cooking or to place over vents and windows to keep bugs out, so they’re pretty easy to come across.
I got a couple of A4 sheets for less than a fiver, so certainly not expensive to pick up and play with.
Setting it up
As I mentioned, this is pretty easy to play with and you really only need one light behind the model, pointing back at you, ideally also hitting the back of the model too. The reason I say this as having a random coloured flare in the foreground of your shot can look cool, but the image may well benefit from that flare feeling like part of the image. The issue I often have with ‘faked’ flares in post is that they look so odd and out of place when that flare has no reference or bearing to the rest of the shot. If you can bed that flare into the image by having the same coloured flare as the colour striking the model, then you have a far better chance of the flare looking more realistic and organic in the shot.
See how the orange light creating the flare is also present on the models face? This is an easy way to bed your flares into the image and they will nearly always look better when a light that is illuminating the model is also creating the flares.
Holding/Attaching the Grid
For the most part, I was holding the grid in front of my camera with my hand. This got tiring real quick, as I had my ancient DSLR and 24-70 at one point in the other hand. One benefit to doing this, though, is that it’s super easy to adjust and manipulate the grid to get varying looks. But when I got tired of holding it, I simply affixed it to a stand via some crab-clamps.
What is the Grid Actually Doing?
As I’m sure many of you can envisage, the grid is letting a lot of the light through the gaps in the grid. Still, the grid is also catching some stray rays across its shiny metal surface, and our camera is seeing those rays as flares when rendered in extreme out of focus due to the grid being so close to the lens.
But what’s the difference? What does it look like when not using the grid?
I grabbed a couple of shots without the grid over the camera lens to show you what it’s actually doing.
Example 1
This image has no grid over the lens…
This image does have a grid in front of the lens…
Example 2
This image has no grid over the lens…
This image does have a grid in front of the lens…
As you can see in the bottom images above, the grid is actually doing a fair amount. Firstly, you can see that the grid is causing an overall diffusion across the image. This soft, base coat of light appears to lift the black point overall, and the whole image appears far more light and airy as a result. Secondly, the grid is, of course, casting that flare across the middle of the shot, and that’s what is creating those atmospheric effects in-camera.
Types of Effects
I’m sure many of you have already picked up on the types of looks that are possible with this technique, but here are a couple that I came across and want to explore further.
All Diffsuion No Flare
In the image above, you may notice that there isn’t actually any dominating flare streaking across the shot. There is, however, a ton of diffusion, and it is very possible to angle the grid in such a way that it’s not catching any flare streaks across its surface, but will still provide you with the diffusion effect.
Bonus points to those of you who noticed the star-bursts! - Yes, due to the nature of the cross pattern associated with grids, many specular highlights did in fact have this cool star-burst flare at their bright point. This won't be to everyone’s taste, but I did think it looked kinda cool and certainly very nostalgic.
Micro-Managed Flare
The above shot is actually one of my favourites from the test, and it was achieved by only holding the grid over part of the lens. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the flare stops cutting across half of the face, and that’s due to me holding the grid to one side and not completely covering my lens. With you holding the grid in one hand, you have a surprising amount of control over how the flare and effect look, and you can even prevent the flare from covering up certain sections of the shot, just like I’m doing here.
Split Flares
Due to the grid being very malleable, you can, in fact, warp and bend the grid as you hold it in front of your lens. By doing this, you can create a ton more effects with the flare, from tightening it up to spreading it out and even splitting it into multiple rays; there’s a lot to test and play with. In the above image, I’ve bent the grid slightly in my hand so that the flare is now spread out into two or three rays of flare. I definitely recommend playing around with this to see what you can come up with.
Final Thoughts on Overall Style (definitely not a rant)
Long-time followers will know that I’m in the process of working through this arty-farty phase of almost degrading my images in a desperate attempt to add some soul back into them. In an era of clinically perfect sensors and lenses recording images that are now mostly retouched by AI algorithms, I’ve found myself going the other way. I shoot more film now than I ever have, and when I shoot digital, I’m always on the lookout for ways to add a little character or intrigue back into the frame.
Everything doesn’t need to be pin-sharp all the time, and it’s ok to make the viewer work a little to interpret your image. In an era where many strive to make imagery as digestible as possible, we often overlook the true goal of imagery: to make people think.
We know that attention spans have gone down significantly in recent years, and consequently, many try to create images that are instantly understood and interpreted. But I think the opposite is now more critical than ever.
It’s simply not enough to just show people your image; you should really invite them to engage with it. Get the viewer to look beyond the data as simply ‘content’ and encourage them to see a story, not just an image.
One way we can invite people to engage with our work is by giving their eyes something to enjoy and savour, not just consume. By adding elements like these visual artefacts in the form of diffusion and flares, our eyes are coaxed into wanting to know what’s beyond. We add these elements to draw people in. Just like how food for many is more than simple sustenance and fuel, it’s a ritual that we seek to enjoy. Modern imagery is becoming much like fast food, fuel for sure, but never memorable. Consider if your shots are simply fast food for your viewers’ eyeballs the next time you set up an image.
My Process For These Shots
My elitist rant out of the way, I’ll just outline the thought process for this series of images. I knew I wanted to add flare across the shots via the metal grid, but that might have looked very odd and very much out of place had I simply opted for a regular key and fill style portrait. If you just want to play with the technique and have fun with it, by all means get the lights out and simply start shooting, but for me, I wanted to bed the flare into a slightly more believable setup.
I decided to go with a more cinematic style setup and opted to integrate environments into my shots that would accommodate the flares a little more organically. As many of you know, I mostly shoot LED light now, and this does open up a few more options when it comes to that cinematic style, namely shutter speeds. With flash, regardless of your camera's shutter speed setting, the flash fires at around 1/4000th of a second, ensuring everything is sharp and crisp. By shooting LEDs, I can drop my shutter speed down dramatically and allow for a little movement to be present in the shot. Here are the settings I used for many of the shots I shared here.
Camera Settings
Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - 85mm 1.4
Shutter Speed - 1/15th
Aperture - f2
ISO - 25
Kelvin - 5600K
Focal Length - 85mm
If you’re interested in the specifics of this setup and how easy this is to set up in your own home (that’s right, this can be achieved in a space as small as your living room), then feel free to check out my Cinematic Studio Lighting Workshop
All of my workshops and lighting courses can be taken online via one-2-one video calls, so please feel free to reach out and learn more about what’s involved, as not only do I cover a ton of cool setups, but you’ll also get a 60+ page PDF of notes including all the lighting diagrams and notes.
Jake’s one-on-one courses are amazing! The course content was comprehensive and well-structured, covering everything from the basics to more advanced techniques.
What set this course apart was the superb teaching style of the instructor. Jake was incredibly passionate about photography and had a knack for breaking down complex concepts into easily understandable terms. His enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the subject made each lesson engaging and enjoyable.
The courses are a fantastic way to grow as a photographer and explore your creative potential. 10/10 highly recommend!
Olivia P. - B.C. Canada
Credits
Model: Jaye Hicks
Post-Pro Artefacts: Boris FX: Optics
Post Pro Grain: Vlad’s All-in-One Grain V3
I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️
PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.
||
PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||
JHP Livestreams…
I livestream every other Tuesday night via YouTube and there I answer your questions, critique your shots, take community images into Photoshop to work on them and discuss all manner of lighting tips and techniques. I look forward to seeing you and your work there real soon. Jake Hicks Photography - YouTube
