Gear Hack: Floor-Stand Backdrop Holders

I am assuming you all know about this and just haven’t told me about it, as this seems so incredibly obvious as to be intentional. And no, I have no clue as to why I never noticed this, even after 20 years of using them!

Yes, believe it or not, your floor-stands seemingly double up as backdrop holders and this isn’t even another of my scuffed-DIY-hack-jobs that kinda works when everything else has failed. These floor-stands really do seem to be perfect at holding any sized backdrop in place.

Just to prove I’m not being dramatic, here is one of my ACTUAL scuffed-DIY-hack-jobs!

That’s right, straight out of art college in 2002 and doing expensive corporate headshots for large architectural firms on 35mm film, and we rock-up with this ingenious backdrop support! Arriving via public transport and taxi was awkward with long background supports, so my clever idea was to beat the ends of an old curtain rail flat and drill holes in it as a lightweight and travel-friendly alternative.

All joking aside, it worked pretty damn well and I won’t tell you how many years we worked like this.

Fast-forward a decade and we finally started to act like professionals and got some proper telescopic backdrop supports. But it wasn’t until very recently when I was on a shoot and needed even more background supports than the typical 2 we normally carry, that the idea dawned on me to use the floor-stands in a way that was similar to my original hack of 20+ years prior.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with what a floor-stand looks like, but if not, it’s a 3 legged support that can be closed to form a single arm to be easily folded and packed away. When open it provides a very sturdy support for floor lighting like background lights and fill-lights, but it’s when this stand is closed away that this seemingly hidden dual purpose comes to light.

You’re all smart people and you’re in the right place that proves that so this image should need little explanation. But yes, flipping the floor-stand upside down and mounting it on top of a light-stand does indeed produce a very sturdy and rigid background support. Yes, you will need two of these, one for the other end of the backdrop too, but I always travel with 2 or 3 floor-stands anyway so this isn’t an issue for me.

If you’ve used these floor-stands in the past, you’ll likely recall that the legs are slightly bent to keep the centre column off of the floor. This is oddly perfect in the reverse too as when mounted upside down and the background/Colorama is in place, this natural spring to the legs keeps the tube very steady. From here of course you can clamp the tube/roll in place as you normally would.

PRO-TIP: One final little trick to this that I’ll mention, is that the central column of the floor-stand can be rotated to either be out of the way on the outside of the stand, or it can be rotated inwards to be snug up against the backdrop roll. With it spun towards the roll, the thumb screw can now be rotated to be pressed against the roll to now act as a brake!

As I mentioned right at the start, this is such an obvious secondary purpose for the floor-stands that I’m sure many of you already knew about it, but more importantly…. shame on you all for not telling ME about it!

It is odd how perfectly this works though and if you are ever caught needing another background support, this floor-stand alternative is far more than just a hack-job in a pinch, this really is a very viable solution that I will undoubtedly use many more times in the future instead of dragging a background crossbar around. Give it a go yourself as I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

P.S. I will be accepting all reasonable offers for those OG ‘JHP sawn-off curtain rail background supports™’. Truly a remarkable piece of photographic history right there for one judicious and minted soul.

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

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Lighting Setup: Bounced Top Light in Small Studios

We all know how easy it is to get the lighting you want in those big, fancy studios. Tons of height, clean white floors and all the kit you could ever dream of. But anyone can get a half-decent shot in a studio like that, what about creating something cool and creative in a smaller space like a home studio?

Getting a large light and an even larger modifier above your subject can produce some beautiful light, but it sadly requires a surprising amount of vertical space. Thankfully, there is a workaround.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced the dread of travelling to a shoot and not knowing what you’re about to be greeted with space-wise. I’ve done portraits in people’s homes in the tiniest of spaces, in hair salons with wall-to-wall mirrors and in corporate offices with horrendous coloured walls and carpets. As I said, any lukewarm monkey with a twitch can take a decent shot when everything is going well and you have tons of kit, time and space….. but what about the other 99% of jobs?

Learning to be adaptable on set (even if that set is a small bathroom) is a huge part of the job and equipping yourself with a few tricks to make the most of any given space is always a good thing. So in today’s article, I want to look at how we can bring in an effective top light above our model, even if we have very little space to work with.

Top-lights get used all the time on bigger shoots and they’re almost always present on movie sets too, but why? One of the main reasons, is separation as we always need to make sure our subject is kept separate from the background. Many modern photographers achieve that today with simple hair-lights (edge-lights) when height is limited, but it can be tricky to get that very even spread of light up the sides and across the top of the head. This is where the top-lights come into play.

In a larger space like a studio, you’d simply boom over the necessary light and you’re done. This does of course require a lot of height as you not only need vertical space for the modifier and the actual light itself, but you also need to have the light high enough to be out of shot, plus also high enough for the light to spread before it hits the model. Surprise, surprise, this eliminates most smaller rooms and spaces, especially home studios….. but there is a workaround.

The Setup

As always, let’s jump straight into the setup and then discuss some of the finer details from there.

*I apologise for the somewhat scuffed BTS shot here. I hadn’t intended to share this setup so this is the only ‘test’ image I had that showed everything.*

Click on any of the images above to enlarge them

TL;DR/ADHD/Artist Setup Explanation

Setup white background
Point 2 lights at the background either side at the top
Suspend silver Mylar above subject
Place red Spotlight on floor behind model and pointed up at the silver Mylar above
Setup a large softbox with blue gel just out of shot next to you and pointed at the model

Kit Used

2x Rotolight AEOS 2’s - Dome modifiers attached
1x Rotolight AEOS 2 PRO - R120 Parabolic attached
Godox SZ150R
Godox Spotlight
2x C-Stands to hold silver Mylar
White Backdrop
Silver Mylar

Camera Settings

Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - AF DC-Nikkor 105mm
Shutter Speed - 1/125th
Aperture - f2
ISO - 200
Kelvin - 4500K
Focal Length - 105mm

The Results

Click to enlarge any of the shots below.

Model: Irina Ludosanu

Breaking it Down

Most of this should make sense now that you’ve seen the setup and diagram, but let me talk you through some of the finer details.

White Background

Firstly, the white background. Nothing crazy here and a white wall is just as good, but make sure it's matte and not shiny. Next, we need to set our two lights up high and on either side pointed into the white wall. The goal is to bring these lights in close to the wall and allow them to illuminate the top portion and fade off into shadow towards the bottom.

I’m using 2x AEOS 2 Rotolight LED lights here, but a couple of strobes with small umbrellas up nice and high would likely also work. Failing that, a boomed-in strip-box would be the perfect solution…. but this article is about making it work in smaller spaces so a boom is likely out of the question.

Blue Softbox

This modifier needs to be as big as you can manage here and although mine is 120cm, you can still make this work with something a little smaller and again, even an umbrella would be a great alternative. I’ve coloured mine with that JHP signature steel-blue colour, but you can choose whatever works for you. This light aims to fill in that shadow you’ve just created on the background with the white lights.

I’d recommend testing the white light first and checking that they’re leaving a shadow at the bottom of your background. PRO-TIP: When you’re checking for that shadow at the base of the frame, be sure to use the lens and focal length you aim to use when actually photographing the model.

Red Spotlight

As you can see in the diagrams, this Spotlight is placed low on the floor and then angled up to the silver mylar above the model. There are a couple of reasons for this placement, firstly to keep it out of shot when we’re shooting, but also the lower it is, the further away it is from the mylar and the larger the spread of light you’ll get.

I’m fortunate to have a Godox SZ150R attached to my Spotlight here and that’s a full RGB LED light allowing me to choose any colour I want. The good news is that if you have an optical snoot instead of the Spotlight, then that will be a fine substitute too. Just remember to gel it once you’ve set it up.

Silver Mylar

Of course, we can’t forget the star of the show here and once again the Silver Mylar comes to the rescue. I’ve been preaching about the merits and many uses of silver Mylar for many years now and if you still don’t have some, I highly recommend you remedy that as soon as possible as it has a ton of uses. Plus, it’s super cheap so there’s no excuse not to have some on set.

If you’re searching for some Mylar online, try the terms ‘gardening’ and ‘roll’ in conjunction with silver Mylar as that gives you the most useful results. I also recommend you get it in as wide of a roll as you can find. Often that’s 1.5m and then the length is up to you, but likely 10m is going to serve you well for a while. Prices do vary wildly, but a 1.5x10m roll should be around £20-£40.

With the sales pitch out of the way, what are we doing with silver Mylar here? As you can see in the diagrams above, I’ve positioned a sheet of it above the model and there are several ways you can do this. In the past I’ve literally pinned it to the ceiling above the subject by sandwiching it between light-stands pushed all the way up. This can often work fine, but it can sometimes be too high, so instead I bring it lower by clamping it to a board and then suspending that board between two C-stands like you see me doing here in this setup.

Things to consider

Bounced Light

The core premise of this setup is the fake top-light we’re making by bouncing a light off of the silver mylar above the model. The silver mylar is bouncing the size of the light that it receives so with this in mind we need to make sure a few things are happening. Firstly, we need to ensure the light we’re firing into the Mylar is extremely controlled. We can’t be firing an uncontrolled light like an open reflector dish up there. The light should only hit the mylar and it shouldn’t hit anything else like the ceiling around it, hence why the Spotlight and optical snoots are ideal for this very precise and controlled light.

The Secret Fifth Light

The other aspect to be very aware of, is where the model is standing in relation to that spotlight behind. If she goes too far back (away from you), she will be struck by the light before it reaches the Mylar above. This is not as bad as you may imagine and I’ll often lean into this clever illusion as it essentially tricks the viewer into thinking you’re using more lights than you actually have.

You can see in nearly all of the shots that I try and make the most of this faux dual-light hence the hands being up and catching the light. If you try this setup yourself, I’d urge you to do the same, just be sure the model doesn’t block too much light from hitting the Mylar above.

Closing Comments

I appreciate it’s kind of ironic that I'm sharing a setup designed around making the most of small spaces.... and then I use 4 lights to do it. Yes, there is a lot going on here, but as always, every light has its job so make sure you know what that job is and set it up one light at a time.

There are also a few distances you should keep in mind. Firstly, your closeness to the background will play a huge role in the final look. Essentially you want your setup as close as you can to the white wall as this will help make the blue a similar power on both the model and the background. Another distance to watch is going to be the silver Mylar above. It should still work if it's pinned to the ceiling above (within reason), but it will make it harder to balance the brightness of the red coming up from under the model with the brightness coming down.

I’m sure I’ll get asked this so I’ll answer this now,

“can I use a silver reflector instead of the silver Mylar?”

The short answer is yes, but a silver reflector will lose a lot of power from the bounced light compared to the Mylar. In theory, this is fine, but with a more diffused light from the reflector we lose some control of it so be very careful of that red spilling onto the white wall behind. Using a silver reflector will also make it very hard to double up that red light from above and below. I just mentioned that a non-mirror finish material like a reflector will need more light power to bounce the same amount of light back down onto the model. That means the red light will be very bright on the way up and less so on the way down. Again, this will make the 2 from 1 light look that much harder as you never want your light from below to appear brighter than the one from above.

Lastly, I know I’m using all LEDs here, but there’s certainly nothing stopping you from achieving all of this with flash and all the modifiers will work for both LED and flash.

Products Used

Rotolight

Although I am sharing my own personal thoughts and findings about the lights mentioned in this article, many of you will want to know that I am now a ‘Master of Light’ for Rotolight. As such, I have been given a discount code to share with you when purchasing any of their products via the Rotolight website. Use my code ‘JAKEHICKS10’ when purchasing and you’ll save a bunch of money. I’ve never earned a penny of commission on this though, so if you find a better deal elsewhere, go for it.

Rotolight AEOS 2 PRO

With the AEOS 2 PRO, the world is your studio. Combining the shoot what you see benefits of powerful continuous light with a High Speed RGBWW strobe, AEOS 2 PRO offers unmatched versatility for photographers and filmmakers. Uniquely lightweight with an ultra-thin design, it’s never been easier to achieve beautiful soft light on the move.

AEOS 2 PRO Website Link

Rotolight R120 Sofbox

A softbox is pretty much a must-have piece of kit for any studio shooter, so if you own any AEOS 2/Pros, this is certainly worth taking a look at. It comes with internal baffles as well as the eggcrate grid on the front. Plus, it has 16 sides making this an incredibly round and clean light source.

R120 Softbox Website Link

PixaPro

Please note that I’ve included affiliate links below for PixaPro and I will benefit (albeit minimally) from the sales of any of these products should you purchase them. To that end, please feel free to use my discount code ‘HICK5-OFF’ at Essential Photo to receive a discount on any purchase via their site.

Godox Spotlight

S-fit spotlight that can be very finely controlled via inbuilt blades or via a range of Gobos. Due to the large lens at the front, this modifier can also produce some of the hardest-looking light available.

Godox Spotlight Link

Godox SZ150R

Essentially this is an LED studio strobe. You can use it with any S-Fit modifiers like beauty dish and softbox you already own, plus you can also change this to any colour and any Kelvin you’d like. It’s only 150 watts though, so you will want to use this in a controlled studio environment.

Godox SZ150R Link

Detachable Base C-Stand

Every decent studio has a few C-Stands in them as they’re rock-solid when it comes to holding kit and backdrops. I only have a couple myself, but I always want more. If you have a more permanent space to shoot from, I doubt you’ll ever regret getting some of these.

3m Professional C-Stand Spring Loaded Detachable Turtle Base

JHP Livestreams…

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Guest Post: Unlocking Creative Potential: How Experienced Photographers Can Leverage Adobe Express

Foreword: I ordinarily don’t share guest posts like this, but when Adobe reached out with an idea for an article explaining the potential of Adobe Express, I was intrigued. Why? Simply put, I’d never heard of Adobe Express, so I thought this might be an opportunity for me to see what it does as well as hopefully sharing some useful insights with you guys along the way.

Unsurprisingly, many of you within my community are already taking advantage of the tools Adobe Express has to offer. So although I’ve not used it myself, based on what you guys are saying, I’ll certainly be checking it out.

Still not sure what Adobe Express does? Here’s an example of what many of you are already using it for…

So if you’re someone in need of a design tool for everything from adding text to images, publishing social media posts and even adding AI artwork both from your phone and desktop, it seems like Adobe Express has you covered.

But here is what Adobe themselves has to say…

Unlocking Creative Potential: How Experienced Photographers Can Leverage Adobe Express

Photo via Adobe Stock

In the dynamic world of photography, the essence of creativity isn't just captured through the lens but also in the post-processing phase. Adobe Express, formerly known as Adobe Spark, emerges as a beacon for seasoned photographers looking to elevate their visual narratives. This article hosted by Jake Hicks Photography delves into the myriad ways in which experienced photographers can harness the capabilities of Adobe Express to refine their art, streamline their workflow, and engage more profoundly with their audience.

Introduction to Adobe Express

Adobe Express stands out as a versatile, user-friendly platform designed for quick and efficient photo editing, graphic design, and web page creation. It combines an intuitive interface with a robust set of tools that cater to the needs of professional photographers seeking to enhance their digital content. From refining images to designing visual assets for branding, Adobe Express offers a comprehensive suite of features that empower photographers to unleash their creative potential.

Streamlined Workflow for Enhanced Productivity

Quick Edits and Batch Processing

For photographers juggling multiple projects, efficiency is key. Adobe Express enables rapid adjustments to photos, including cropping, resizing, and applying filters, without compromising on quality. The platform's batch processing capabilities allow for the simultaneous editing of numerous images, significantly cutting down post-processing time and enabling photographers to focus more on shooting.

Seamless Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud

Experienced photographers often rely on a suite of Adobe products. Adobe Express seamlessly integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud, providing a smooth workflow across applications like Photoshop and Lightroom. This integration allows for the easy import and export of projects, ensuring that photographers can effortlessly transition between detailed editing in Photoshop or Lightroom and the broader design functionalities of Adobe Express.

Creative Expansion Through Advanced Features

Sophisticated Design Templates

Adobe Express offers an extensive library of design templates that cater to a wide range of creative needs, from social media posts to marketing materials. These templates serve as a springboard for creativity, allowing photographers to customise and create compelling visuals that complement their photographic work.

Brand Management Tools

Building and maintaining a cohesive brand is crucial for professional photographers. Adobe Express's brand management tools enable the easy creation of branded content, from logos and color schemes to fonts and templates. By ensuring brand consistency across all visual assets, photographers can enhance their professional presence and connect more effectively with their audience.

Engaging with Audiences through Dynamic Content

Interactive Web Stories

In the age of digital storytelling, engaging with audiences requires innovation. Adobe Express's web stories feature allows photographers to create interactive, mobile-optimized web pages that showcase their work in a narrative format. By integrating photos, videos, and text, photographers can tell more compelling stories, engage viewers, and increase their online visibility.

Social Media Optimisation

Social media platforms are pivotal for photographers to showcase their work and engage with their community. Adobe Express simplifies the creation of social media content with optimised templates and scheduling features. By efficiently managing their social media presence, photographers can reach a broader audience, engage with followers, and promote their work more effectively.

Adobe Express is not just a tool but a gateway for experienced photographers to explore new horizons of creativity and efficiency. Its comprehensive suite of features offers the flexibility to edit photos, design visuals, and engage with audiences on a deeper level. By integrating Adobe Express into their workflow, photographers can not only streamline their processes but also expand their creative expression and connect more meaningfully with their audience. In the ever-evolving landscape of digital photography, Adobe Express stands as a vital ally for photographers aiming to transcend the ordinary and captivate the world with their visual stories.

Unleash your photographic potential with Jake Hicks Photography. Explore the art of colour and light through online workshops, tutorials, and mentoring sessions to transform your visions into stunning realities

I thank Adobe for sharing their article with us and if you have any questions, please drop them down below. Have you used Adobe Express yourself? How are you using it in your own workflow? Let me know as I’m always interested in hearing how you guys are using these tools.

JHP Livestreams…

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Small LED Light Tubes: Godox TL30-K2 Review

If we put aside the fact that the photographic industry is seemingly obsessed with these progressively more complicated and seemingly AI-generated product names for a moment, the TL30 from the K2 pack is actually a pretty good light. Now that the ‘man shouts at clouds’ section of this review is out of the way, I can happily speak as to why this is a very powerful and versatile little light in the right situation.

*The little TL30 LED can be brought in unbelievably close to the subject and can result in some gorgeous light drop-off, even in tiny spaces!*

To clear up any disclaimers right out of the gate, I reached out to Essential Photo here in the U.K. and requested this product to test and play with. As I normally do with these products, I offer to talk about it and share my thoughts, but once I’m done, I’ll send it back. So to be clear, I am not being paid to write this.

The reason I requested this little light in the first place, was to test some theories on light drop-off, specifically with LEDs in this case. I know long-time readers will have heard me mention this a few times over the years, but using LED lights (specifically panels and tubes) is very different when compared to strobes.

Real groundbreaking thinking so far, right? “Yes, Jake, strobes and LEDs are completely different. We get it!” But no, I’m not talking about flash durations or power outputs, I’m referring to light spread and light drop-off and why this is so fundamentally important for us to fully understand where it differs with different lights.

LED Lights and Their Unique Light Drop-Off

I have already spoken about this LED light drop-off at length in the past, so I won’t bore you with the details once again, but if you’re interested you can take a look at my previous article on it here Lighting Setup: Affordable LED Tubes

The main point I want us to be mindful of as we look at these little TL30-K2’s (catchy right?), is that they’ll enable us to throw light onto a very small area without it spreading to unwanted areas like the background. You can see more of what I mean from the diagram below which shows the drop-off of LED light from tubes versus the drop-off of a single point strobe.

*Click to enlarge:* On the left, we have a single point of light from a flash and on the right we have an LED tube. The brightness is measured to be the same at 50cm from the source at f5.6, but you’ll see that this drops off differently between the two light sources.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that the tube is spreading light far more evenly over a larger area here, granted the tube pictured above is far larger than the 30cm one I’ll be testing, but that smaller size will actually work in our favour in this instance as we’ll be able to control a very even spread of light in a very small area, namely the body.

Before we start nerding-out about lighting theory though, let’s first look at the lights I’ll be testing.

What are these TL30-K2 LED tubes exactly?

The TL30 refers to Tube Light and that it’s 30cm in length. The K2 part refers to the fact that it’s a 2 light Kit. The individual tubes are 30cm long and are capable of producing colours from the full RGB spectrum as well as white light ranging from 2700K to 6500K. They weigh in at only 0.30Kg and have a battery duration of 60 minutes at full power.

I opted to get the 2 light kit so I could play with mixing colours, plus this kit comes with a ton of additional accessories that certainly enable you to get the most from these lights in almost any situation… including underwater!!!

What Accessories are Included in the Two-Light-Kit?

Tube Clamp (TL-C2 Retaining Clips)

One of the most important accessories is the tube clamp. This clamp sits snuggly on any part of the tube before you firmly secure it in place. On the rear, you then have 2x 1/4 inch thread holes to easily mount the tube to a variety of light-stands, clamps and tripods.

Tube Extender (TL-M2 Coupler)

Each of the LED tubes has a 1/4 inch hole in each end that allows for the tubes to be connected to one another to effectively extend their length. Each tube can be connected via this two-disc thread that sits between them. Each of these discs moves independently meaning you can screw the tubes together firmly and align them to the correct position very easily.

Tube Grids (TL-G30 Grids)

These grids are attached via three elastic straps that enable them to be secured snuggly to the LED tubes. A little fiddly to put on and I usually just skip the middle strap, but the grids do stay in place and don’t droop down once they’re positioned. They can also be used along with the tube clamps and although they don’t look pretty when in place, the clamp doesn’t hinder the grids from channelling the light in any way.

*The tubes with the clamp and grids together. It looks ugly, but neither product stops the other from doing its intended job.*

Waterproof Bags (TL-W30)

A nice bonus to have in this kit is the waterproof bags. I say it’s a ‘bonus’ as this won't be something a huge number of people will need, but I think it's great to have this included, even if it’s just to combat weatherproofing concerns. The bags seem fairly durable, but thin enough for you to easily use all of the buttons….. just not the dial! They also have an easy-to-use and firm closing mechanism, meaning there is no concerns when it comes to wondering if you’ve closed the bag properly or not. These waterproof bags are generous in size too, meaning you aren’t fighting to get the tubes in and out either. Again, I can’t see myself using them, but they’re certainly nice to have.

Additional bits…

The kit also includes a few extra bits including wrist straps that screw into the ends of the tubes and of course, the USB to USB-C charging cables. You charge the lights via a USB-C port in the base of each of the tubes (pictured above). Lastly, you also get 6 metal plates. I’m not entirely sure how often, if ever I’d use these, but they are designed to be stuck onto surfaces via their adhesive pads and then the LEDs are supposed to be attached to them via their internal magnets. I will just add that these magnets in the tubes are surprisingly strong and they have no trouble at all when it comes to holding themselves both vertically and horizontally to any metal surface. Not a mandatory feature, but I could see it being useful in more places than you think. Edit: I just tested it and they even stick themselves to my C-Stand upright and even on the thinner boom arm too. Like I say, these magnets are pretty strong!

Controlling and Adjusting the Tubes

You’ll be very pleased to know that these lights are very simple to control, plus you won't have to go through numerous menus to get to where you want to be. Each tube has 3 buttons; Power, Mod and Dim. Plus it also comes with a thumb wheel/adjustment dial. Hold the power button down to get going and then simply hit the MOD button to switch between each of the 3 white light, RGB and effects modes. From here you can then adjust each of the relevant values by turning the wheel and then adjust the brightness by first hitting the DIM button before again turning the wheel. Pressing the wheel in can also allow access to further adjustments.

As I mentioned, there are only 3 modes to cycle through so getting to where you want is very fast. The first image above shows the White Light mode and then above on the left is the RGB mode and on the right are all the video effects like lightening, TV flicker etc.

The Godox Light App

Don’t forget that these tubes all have Bluetooth connectivity too which enables you to control them via the Godox Light smartphone app. I personally don’t have the patience for controlling my lights via an app unless I have to, but the Godox Light app is supposed to be pretty good and if you’re using these lights up high or in hard-to-reach places, apps like this can make your life an awful lot easier!

….but how bright is it?!

Now I know all my strobe brothers and sisters are trawling this article looking for this little smattering of data that shows you how weak this latest LED light is. Well, here you go…

Power Output: 8w
Brightness: 740 lux

Super useful, right? I mentioned it at the top, but yes, LEDs are indeed very different when it comes to their outputs and you’ll often read power values that don’t translate well, if at all, to what we’re familiar with in our strobe world.

So instead of the tech-specs, let’s look at how bright this is in practical terms.

*The above image was captured at f2.8 / ISO 200 / 1/60th sec*

Above we can see a practical result in a language that we all understand. I measured the power of the light at 100% at a distance of 50cm, 100cm and 150cm away from the LED using a light meter and here are my findings.

At 50cm away the light measures f2.8 at ISO 200 and 1/60th sec. It drops off consistently from there and you can see that in the above photo.

*I know we’re talking about power outputs in this section, but just look at how clean that light is on the wall!*

At this stage, you may be surprised or even disappointed with what you’re seeing. After all, f2.8, ISO 200 and 1/60th sec at 50cm away is not bright, but remember, this is a tiny LED tube and we’ll be using it specifically as a key-light or at the very least, very close to the body. Every light has its optimum job and although this won't be lighting any big spaces on location, we can still utilise this tiny package to create some unique lighting styles.

Not convinced? Take a look below and see how I intend to use mine.

Using the TL30 to take portraits

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple of years while playing with LEDs, is to always test it out for yourself. With so many of these LED lights, it’s always the same concern; ‘will it be bright enough?’ You look at the spec sheet and many of them look like they’ll do nothing, but when you use them, you quickly find out that they’re far more capable than you initially thought and a lot of this comes from how they distribute light.

But enough specs and theory, let’s see the shots from my initial tests…

Clicking on any of the images below will fit them to your screen

The Initial Test

I started off by actually joining 2 of the TL30s together via the included screw attachment from the pack. I then used this now 60cm tube as my key-light and set it to pure red (Hue: 0 - Saturation: 100). I positioned it above the model and just out of shot so I could shoot underneath it. To complement this red light, I added a large blue light behind me via my Rotolight AEOS 2 Pro in a R120 softbox (AKA big soft light).

Camera Settings

Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - 24-70mm f2.8
Shutter Speed - 1/60th
Aperture - f2.8
ISO - 200
Kelvin - 5500K
Focal Length - ~40-58mm

Points of Note

The one thing I was keen to test with this light drop-off, was just how quickly the light would dissipate. What I mean by this, is how quickly the power of the light becomes effectively powerless and we can really start to see that here when we look at how close the model is to the background. Edit: I’m looking at the 3D diagram again now and in reality she may have been even closer to the background than is shown here. My point is, that the light from this very bold red key-light barely touches that background at all and it’s kept only on the model before it drops off entirely.

Looking Closer

To really demonstrate what I mean, I shot the same test image below with both a regular strobe with a basic reflector dish attached and then with the TL30. I made sure that the mannequin forehead was light metered at exactly f5.6 between each shot and both lights were positioned at the same distance from the subject too. What’s important for you to observe here, is just how much light is being spread/spilt onto the background behind the head. As you can see, the strobe spreads a lot of light back there, but the LED tube has almost none at all. You should also note just how similar the lighting between the two faces is here too.

It’s this incredibly tight light control that an evenly distributed light source like an LED tube or LED panel has that’s so important and it’s what I hoped to find when I requested this TL30-K2 lights to test.

Nerd-Note: I had to use a reflector dish on the strobe to try and make it a little fairer on the strobe. With no dish, the bare flash bulb threw light all over the studio and this resulted in the background being far brighter than it is here. Plus, due to the nature of lighting never happening in a vacuum, that bare bulb bounced light around the studio and ultimately that light filled in a lot of the shadows below too.

*Click to enlarge: A practical light drop-off comparison between both a strobe and a small LED tube.*

What about just one TL30?

I knew you were all just dying to ask that, and if I were you, I’d be dying to ask that exact same question!

Yes, the above shots were taken with 2x TL30s joined together and I did briefly test what just one of them solo looked like as a red key-light too.

This shot looks very similar to the earlier shots where I used 2 tubes joined together above, right? Yes, you’re not imagining things, the two resulting shots look very similar and that’s purely down to the size of the subject being clearly covered by one light when brought in close like this. So regardless of whether you only have one tube or two, you can still achieve the same look. The only core benefit of the two tubes is each of them will need be emitting slightly less light compared to one on its own.

The White-Light Alternative

I get it, not everyone is as obsessed with the crazy, bold colours as I am, so for the normies out there, here are some white-light alternatives.

*Click to enlarge: Here we can see that I’ve changed the key-light to white-light and that I’ve also added a second tube to camera left. Again, this is set to red.*
*Note: The Set.a.Light 3D software I use to make these diagrams currently doesn't support small LED tubes, hence why the diagram shows the longer versions.*

For this set, I’ve changed the key-light above to white light (4500K) and then I’ve added a second TL30 to the side of the model and this is now set to red (Hue: 0 - Saturation: 100). For this one, I also decided to move her a little further away from the background due to the red light below needing to be pulled further back to remain out of shot.

Alternative Fill

Lastly, I simply switched the red fill-light to be in front of the model instead of to the side.

Again, here I moved the white light up a little higher to get more spread down the body. This also helps prevent any white light from spilling down onto the backdrop behind her which would in turn wash out the blue colour. To avoid this, I moved the model and all of the lights a little further away from it.

The power of this light, is its size!

Early on in this article, we spoke about its concerning power output. The specs told us it was an 8w light! If you’re a studio shooter, you’ve likely got some flashes that are 500w, maybe even 1000w! How can this 8w light even be usable?

I hope you’ll agree now that those 8ws can be deceiving. You’ve just seen a bunch of portraits all very well-lit and my camera settings weren’t anything too crazy to achieve them. Yes, I was at 1/60th at ISO 200, but don’t forget that the LED tube was also only set to 20 (out of 100) in terms of power. I do not doubt that if I’d been bothered by either the ISO 200 or 1/60th sec I could easily have given that little light more power.

But the beauty of this little light is not its versatility, far from it. In fact, I got this light to test because of its small size not in spite of it and it’s this small size that enables me to bring that light extremely close to the subject's face to get some truly beautiful and very controlled light.

Uncontrolled light

To illustrate my point, what happens if I pull the light further away from the subject? By doing so, I’d need to increase its power to still properly illuminate the model. But in doing so, I now create a situation where the light is no longer controlled and this results in light spilling and spreading around the set.

In this example here you can clearly see the red light spilling onto my background behind the model. This isn’t terrible in itself and if you like the look, by all means, go for it, but it does show you how uncontrolled the light can be if not brought in close to the subject and the power brought down to compensate.

A similar look would also happen if we had a far larger tube here too. If we use my 100cm tube here, even close to the model, it’s likely that it’d spill onto the background too. Again, the TL30s power lies in its small size.

Featured Model: Little_b1989

Light Spread

It’s also worth noting the effective illumination angle of these TL30 tubes is about 180 degrees. I also own some 100cm LED tubes and always use those lights ‘in-shot’. and you can see the results here, but see how those tubes seemingly spread light from everywhere? That is very different to these TL30s as the angle of light spread is closer to 180 degrees rather than the 360 degrees you see in those other images. This is not a problem as I never intend to use these TL30s in-shot as I do with my longer tubes, but I just want you to be mindful of that in case you were planning to use them in-shot yourself.

Click to enlarge: I’ll speak about this later in the article, but LED lights are often about the right tool for the right job. Yes, those tubes throw light in all directions, but that also gives you far less control of your light too. The 180 spread of the TL30 ensures the light goes only where you want it.

Final Thoughts on the TL30-(K2)

At this stage, I think you’ve likely made up your mind with regards to this little light, my only hope is that your decision wasn’t purely based on the power output alone. Is it a ‘powerful’ light? No, but it’s more than powerful enough for the job it’s trying to do. I got this LED tube to illuminate small areas of the body with clean-looking light and to do it with precision. I had hoped that’s what it would do and thankfully it did it extremely well.

If you’re still on the fence, then here are a few bullet points to help you out.

Full RGB Colour Spectrum - As you’d expect, truly more colours than you’d ever need.
Detailed Saturation Adjustments - Bold colour not your thing? Don’t forget that this light also has a saturation dial for all colours and its increments are as small as 1%!
Kelvin Adjustments - This isn’t the biggest Kelvin range at 2700K-6500K, but it has enough adjustability for most needs.
G/M Tint Shifts - The Kelvin mode also allows for Green and Magenta shifts which is ideal if you’re ever matching lights to fluorescents.
Video Effects - I don’t even use these, but I know a lot of videographers that do. If you need a flickering fire or TV lighting effect for a video, this light has tons to choose from too.
Very Easy to Use - With just 3 buttons and a dial, this light is very simple and quick to use. Plus, with only 3 modes to cycle through, you won’t be wasting time trying to find what you want either.
Useful Accessories - Most of the time, these kits contain fillers to simply try and add value, but this kit really does contain some very useful accessories. Among them are the light-stand clamp, grid and even the waterproof bag.

LEDs are more flexible than you think. Sure, you’ll need to adapt your thinking from years of strobe use, but the effort will be rewarded with a better quality of light. Plus, there are certain instances where LEDs can offer something unique. In this image, the red light is coming from the little TL30 we’ve been discussing. See how the light is going both up and down the model thanks to its tube shape?

Closing Comments

If you’ve read all this nerd-speak so far, you likely think I’ve lost my mind. I get it. I really am getting into the weeds of understanding the dynamics of light drop-off with this one and for the most part, you’ll be able to take a lifetime's worth of portraits and never need to know all of this. But for those of you who want to dig a little deeper and for those who want to control complex lighting AKA coloured lighting in small areas like the human body, understanding lighting drop-offs based on the size of the light source and not simply via the Inverse Square Law, will certainly help you to achieve that.

A different chapter

Understanding and mastering LEDs is a very different chapter in the broader book of lighting knowledge. Yes, many things are the same, but the more I use LEDs the more I realise there are aspects of lighting that I’ve simply always taken for granted or simply overlooked until now.

This isn’t a new problem either as I went through a similar rediscovery when I transitioned to flash from hot-lights. All of these lights are like instruments. The notes stay the same, but you need to learn the intricacies of each instrument as you move around them.

Understanding the difference between points and planes of light

As I stated earlier, I’ve used flash extensively over the years and due to its design, flash nearly always emanates from a single point. From here we modify that single point in a variety of ways, from a large soft-box to a hard snoot. The resulting light is fine, but soft-boxes can produce hot-spots and the channelled and bounced light of a snoot can cause rough and even double shadows. Flashes are fine, but they are jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none when it comes to lighting and that’s absolutely fine for the most part. After all, you can very happily take many amazing images with flash, it’s just that when trying to do very precise lighting with colour, flashes can be tricky to fully manipulate.

LEDs are far from perfect though and the biggest most obvious flaw of LEDs is that they’re almost impossible to modify. The shape of the LEDs, whether it be a panel or a tube, is the shape of the light you’ll get. No lighting modifier can turn an LED panel into a viable snoot. But this lack of flexibility means the quality of light you get from that panel or tube if used as such, is truly remarkable.

Quality vs power

These little LED tubes won’t outright replace any of your strobes as they simply don’t do anything that your strobe already does. But your strobe also cannot do what this little light can do either.

I think as the years go by, LEDs will get brighter and brighter and for many, only then will they dare to even try LEDs. But like it or not, I really do see us switching to LEDs and as we do so, we’ll have to remember that it’s the right tool for the right job. One LED light won’t be as versatile as one strobe, but using the right LED for the right job will always produce gorgeous results and those will always speak for themselves.

Your thoughts?

As always, I truly appreciate anyone who reads all of my nerdy articles. Hopefully, you’ve learned something new or even better you’ve been inspired to test your own theories and ideas on this. If you do, I’d love to see or hear about them and always feel free to share your work via my Facebook Pages -Share-a-Shoot- post every Monday. Although the calibre of work being shared on there now is so high, I’m starting to feel pressured…. which is never/probably isn’t a bad thing! Also, if you have any questions about any of this, feel free to fire away below.

Products Used

TL30-K2 RGB LED Tube

A 2 light LED kit that includes 2x 30cm full RGB LED tubes plus a whole host of useful accessories including grids and mounting clamps.

TL30-K2 Two Light Kit Link

Rotolight AEOS 2 PRO

AEOS 2 PRO Website Link

JHP Livestreams…

Learn more about my online workshops

TWiP 835: Is AI the new Microstock?

It’s always a great honour to be invited onto TWiP (This Week in Photo) and as you can see by the episode number, it’s been going on for a long time! In this episode, I was chatting with hosts Frederick Van Johnson and Alastair Jolly as we discussed AI in photography.

Yes, I’m sure you’re all bored-to-tears about the discussion surrounding AI and its impact on photography, but that aside, I still think we worked through a lot of interesting topics. Is AI really that bad? Is it really taking our jobs? What effect is it having on our general perception of images? What can we as photographers do to make our work stand above that of AI?

If any of that sounds like it might be of interest, be sure to check it out and thanks once again to Frederick for having me back in the show ❤️

To watch the full interview check the video below or visit the This Week in Photo website here

JHP Livestreams…

ONLINE WORKSHOPS - LEARN MORE

JHP COLOUR GEL PACKS - BUY NOW

ONE-2-ONE MENTORING - LEARN MORE

I am assuming you all know about this and just haven’t told me about it, as this seems so incredibly obvious as to be intentional. And no, I have no clue as to why I never noticed this, even after 20 years of using them!

P.S. I will be accepting all reasonable offers for those OG ‘JHP sawn-off curtain rail background supports™’. Truly a remarkable piece of photographic history right there for one judicious and minted soul.

JHP Livestreams…

The Setup

TL;DR/ADHD/Artist Setup Explanation

Kit Used

Camera Settings

The Results

Breaking it Down

White Background

Blue Softbox

Red Spotlight

Silver Mylar

Things to consider

Bounced Light

The Secret Fifth Light

Closing Comments

I’m sure I’ll get asked this so I’ll answer this now,

Products Used

Rotolight

Rotolight AEOS 2 PRO

Rotolight R120 Sofbox

PixaPro

Godox Spotlight

Godox SZ150R

Detachable Base C-Stand

3m Professional C-Stand Spring Loaded Detachable Turtle Base

JHP Livestreams…

Still not sure what Adobe Express does? Here’s an example of what many of you are already using it for…

Unlocking Creative Potential: How Experienced Photographers Can Leverage Adobe Express

Introduction to Adobe Express

Streamlined Workflow for Enhanced Productivity

Quick Edits and Batch Processing

Seamless Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud

Creative Expansion Through Advanced Features

Sophisticated Design Templates

Brand Management Tools

Engaging with Audiences through Dynamic Content

Interactive Web Stories

Social Media Optimisation

JHP Livestreams…

LED Lights and Their Unique Light Drop-Off

What are these TL30-K2 LED tubes exactly?

What Accessories are Included in the Two-Light-Kit?

Tube Clamp (TL-C2 Retaining Clips)

Tube Extender (TL-M2 Coupler)

Tube Grids (TL-G30 Grids)

Waterproof Bags (TL-W30)

Additional bits…

Controlling and Adjusting the Tubes

The Godox Light App

….but how bright is it?!

Using the TL30 to take portraits

The Initial Test

Camera Settings

Points of Note

Looking Closer

What about just one TL30?

The White-Light Alternative

Alternative Fill

The power of this light, is its size!

Uncontrolled light

Light Spread

Final Thoughts on the TL30-(K2)

Closing Comments

A different chapter

Understanding the difference between points and planes of light

Quality vs power

Your thoughts?

Products Used

TL30-K2 RGB LED Tube

Rotolight AEOS 2 PRO

JHP Livestreams…

It’s always a great honour to be invited onto TWiP (This Week in Photo) and as you can see by the episode number, it’s been going on for a long time! In this episode, I was chatting with hosts Frederick Van Johnson and Alastair Jolly as we discussed AI in photography.

JHP Livestreams…

P.S. I will be accepting all reasonable offers for those OG ‘JHP sawn-off curtain rail background supports™’. Truly a remarkable piece of photographic history right there for one judicious and minted soul.