Free Lightroom Preset Pack | Christmas 2025

Donate & Support

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.

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PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

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If you found your way here from the Livestream, thanks so much for hanging out and please find your 2025 Christmas gift from me in the form of my free Lightroom Preset pack via the link below. Here’s to us all having a very creative 2026!

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Christmas 2025 Lightroom Preset Pack

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>>The Download Link will appear once you’ve clicked the [Submit] button below<<

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>>The Download Link will appear once you’ve clicked the [Submit] button below<< -

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Donate & Support

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. ||

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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

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

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DIY Textured Painted Backdrop

Donate & Support

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. ||

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I’m sure we’ve all used the white background of a studio before. Who hasn't? But there are times when we want a white background, but we don’t necessarily want it to look like a studio. Here I show you how I quickly (ish) and cheaply made a white, textured backdrop.

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I’ll jump straight into this one as there’s nothing technical to cover before we start.

I was recently asked to do a shoot for a hair salon. They have shown me example ideas on a moodboard with a white background, but many of the examples were not shot in a photo studio. Turned out they preferred a more organic, textured backdrop over a stark, e-commerce-looking shot.

Pretty standard so far, and I’m starting to see a lot more of these requests crop up as people are being put off by the somewhat stark, clinical and often overly commercial-looking shots we can see online.

Ideally, we’d find a cool location that had a more rustic and organic backdrop, but as with many hair campaigns, you often have to shoot in the salon as the hairstylists need all their tools on hand to prep the hair.

So, with a location shoot off the table, the next best thing is to bring a textured background to the salon. This is where I set out to look at some alternatives.

Although I’m sure many of you are immediately thinking of a multitude of ways to add texture to a background, I did have one major issue to contend with: I had to bring the backdrop to the salon. So yes, although elements like polyfiller, plaster, joint compound, or any other soft putty-like substance that dries rock hard sound perfect… I can’t roll that up and through it in the back of the car.

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The Textured Backdrop - Rollable Edition

So yes, sadly, as much as I wanted to throw putty at a wall and paint it white, I needed to find a far milder alternative that I knew I could actually roll up and move. Of course, the most obvious solution was paint, but even then, I was wary of thick paint cracking and falling apart when dry and rolled up.

That said, I thought I should be okay with thick masonry paint at least, so I opted for this one.

‘Textured Masonry Paint’ I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of this, but be sure to get the ‘brilliant white’ version. Be wary of getting any off-white paint for this, as the odd cream colour under harsh light will play havoc with any white balance you try to do.

My thinking was that the paint would be thick (it even had’ textured’ in the name - more on that later), thick enough to have some shape to it when painted and not just lie completely flat and clean.

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If you’re going to be using paint on the backdrop, make sure it’s actually pure white paint and not eggshell, dove, magnolia, cloud etc etc!!

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The Backdrop - Rollable Edition

Many long-time readers will know that I love to use window blinds as backgrounds, and I’ve done so for over 20 years. I’ve now assembled quite a collection of window blinds here at the home-studio! The reason I use window blinds is due to how easy they are to transport to a shoot if needed. Plus, they lie flat, hand flat, are durable to the point they can be cleaned, they don't bend or fold, and most kinks can be removed simply by hanging it up. Plus, the blackout blinds are actually pretty thick and are ideal for shining light on them as they aren't shiny like other backdrops can be.

So again, for this project, I picked up yet another window blind. I’ve bought so many now, Amazon must think I live in a greenhouse! I always try to get a ‘blackout blind’ and I try to get the ones with the most ‘drop’ as they call it. This just means the length of the blind when hung up.

The one I got here is 180cm wide with a 160cm drop. This is pretty much the bare minimum size you can make work for a studio portrait, and ideally, I’d like a 2-metre wide one with at least 2+ metres drop.

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I’ve been using window blinds as photography backdrops for over 20 years! They’re perfect backdrops that can be easily rolled up and transported.

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Don’t bother with these textured rollers - It doesn’t look good!

Creating the Texture Backdrop

This part isn’t rocket science, but I did discover a couple of elements along the way. Originally, I’d actually purchased a bunch of big paintbrushes and even very textured rollers to see what would give the best result. As it turned out, the roller, in conjunction with this thick texture paint, worked too well, and the resulting bubbled and pitted texture was actually too dramatic and even for the more randomised effect I was after.

Even the big paint brushes I had gotten didn't work for what I was after, as their bristles were still too fine and didn't leave any texture in the paint. So the roller was too much, and the paintbrushes weren't enough. Ironically, what did end working well was an old plastic broom I had lying around in the garage.

The plastic broom had very large, plastic and very separated bristles. This is what ultimately gave me the deep and textured look of sweeps of paint I was after.

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Using a street-sweeping broom to paint the backdrop actually gave it the deep brushstroke texture I was after.

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The Finished Textured Look

Like I mentioned, I used a big street-sweeping brush to get the final look I was after. The larger, thicker and more seared bristles on the broom allowed me to get very visible brushstrokes in the paint.

From here, it was just a matter of building up the paint and being very generous with it when I applied the coats. I wasn't too precious with how I applied it either and kept the brush moving in multiple directions to ensure as much visual texture on the surface as possible.

Ultimately, I only applied two coats of thick paint. I wanted to do more, but even at two coats, I was very wary of the paint becoming too thick and then cracking when I wanted to roll it up. In the end, I think I could have gotten away with at least one more coat, but the two I had got the job done.

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I applied a couple of coats and kept the paint thick on both along with varying brushstrokes in the paint to keep the texture apparent.

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A Quick Test

Before I rocked up on the day with the DIY background, I wanted to give it a quick test to see how it would look and how it would hold up under lighting. As always, you learn something new every time you pick up the camera, and one thing that stood out to me when shooting these tests was how important the aperture would be.

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Click to enlarge - In the full screen version, you should be able to see the texture more clearly, but in some of these shots, the texture is far less pronounced.

I think many of us portrait shooters are guilty of going out and buying a beautiful f1.2 prime lens… and then never ever taking it off f1.2. It cost you a small fortune, why would you? But for hair campaigns, crisp eyes and hair totally out of focus are rarely a good look. The same thing was happening here in these tests. If the aperture was too shallow, the background texture was completely lost, especially when getting close for a headshot. But when shooting further back and opening up the aperture to f4 or f5.6, the background texture really started to pop.

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Test Shots on the Day

In the end, I was extremely happy with the final shots and how the background looked in them. The texture was just enough to take away the clean and clinical look a simple white background might offer, but not so much texture as to be distracting.

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Final Images

Click on any of the images below to fit them to your screen.

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Complete Hair Shoot Breakdown

If you were curious about how this whole process and shoot was captured, including everything from moodboards to behind-the-scenes on the day, take a look at my complete photoshoot breakdown video on YouTube below.

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Donate & Support

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. ||

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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

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

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Lighting Setup: Joined-Up Lighting

Donate & Support

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. ||

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Using coloured light can be tricky, and although it can be frustrating at times, the extra effort does offer up more than a few unique benefits when it comes to creative lighting. And one of those benefits is the ability to create basic optical illusions, such as ‘joined-up lighting’.

One aspect of white-light studio photography that makes it so comparatively easy when compared to coloured lighting is the ease with which we can add multiple lights to a scene and get away with not ruining the shot.

What I mean by this is that when the key-light, the fill-light, and edge-lights are all white-light, we can be very sloppy with their placement and still get a half-decent image. The reason for this is that all the lights are the same colour, so that when those lights overlap, we barely notice it. So, although we can be lax with our light placements for white light, we will be penalised if we do the same with coloured light. The reason for this is that multiple colours wash each other out. To avoid this, we need to keep our coloured lights separate.

For example, I like to break my subject’s headshots down into zones of light. The keylight would illuminate the face, the fill-light would illuminate the bottom, and the edge lights would, of course, light the edges of the face. This sounds super-simple and some would say fairly obvious, yet many still overlook it.

If we light our subjects’ portraits in this way, our lighting becomes far easier to control, and thus it’s far easier for us to keep those lights separated, and of course, this ultimately leads to stronger, richer colours.

Edit - I’m writing this out now and realising that the zonal lighting system I use would benefit from its own article. I’ll certainly try to make that happen soon, but for now, I hope this makes sense.

The Trick?

How can we utilise the zonal system to create the optical illusion I mentioned? Essentially, all I'm referring to is combining certain zones by making them the same colour. For example, in this setup, I use a red light on the top light as well as an edge light. By doing this, it tricks the viewer’s eye into thinking that it’s actually the same light and keeps the image looking clean and easy to digest.

Without Joined Up Lighting

Let’s first look at what the image looks like without the joined-up lighitng. In the two example images below, I’m only using 2 lights. One blue fill light and, of course, one red top light.

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There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this lighting of course and I’ll often just have a single, strong top-light like this. But if we want to give ourselves a few options in terms of posing i.e. not looking straight up in every single shot! Then another well placed light can give us some variation.

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Adding Another Light

Now, let’s bring in another light and place it in such a way that it gives us some more scope for posing.

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As we can see in the image above, I’ve now added a third light, and this is the same red colour as the top light. This additional light is positioned as an edge light, but if we get the model to look to the side, it does a great job of acting as our key-light.

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Joining Up Those Lights

In the image below, you’ll see that this image its actually only a slight variation of the one I previously showed. The lights are actually all still in the same place, the model is still facing the same way i.e. off to the side, and the only thing that’s changed, is her looking up slightly.

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Can you now see how these two very bold and colourful red lights trick you into thinking it’s only one, single light? The top-light is arguably doing most of the heavy lifting here, as it’s lighting most of the model's face and chest, but the edge light from behind is doing more than you think, too.

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Cut out & Keep!

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I’ve included it in the diagram above, but I’ll enlarge it here too. Can you see what each of the two red lights are covering? This is the basic premise for joined-up lighting and it has a lot of scope for adaptability to numerous setups once you get your head around the idea of separation lights by colour and not just luminance.

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Camera Settings

• Camera - Nikon D850

• Lens - 85mm 1.4

• Shutter Speed - 1/125th

• Aperture - f1.4

• ISO - 25

• Kelvin - 5500K

• Focal Length - 85mm

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TL;DR/ADHD/Artist Setup Explanation

• Set up a panel light above for an even spread of light

• Position a large softbox behind you to illuminate the entire scene

• Direct a hard light from behind the model and onto the side - ensure it’s the same colour as the top-light

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Kit Used

• Nanlite PavoSlim 120C

• Nanlite FC-500C

• Nanlite FC-120C

• Nanlite FM-Mount Projection Unit

• Large Softbox

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Breaking the Rules

Of course, what I showed above is typically how you’d light and pose this setup. Have someone face towards that edge-light. But the visual trick of joined-up lighting is so strong that you can even break the rules with lighting a little, and it still works.

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In this image, I have the model facing away from the edge-light. That light is positioned to the camera-right, yet she’s looking to camera-left. Now, that edge-light is no longer lighting her face, but instead it’s almost entirely lighting her hair from behind, and it looks awesome. If you look closely, you can also see on her jawline and neck, where that red edge-light ends and the top-light begins. See the shadow cast on her neck from the collar? Plus, see how her ear is lit, even though it’s underneath her hair? It’s these elements that can make joined-up lighting so strong.

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Adding Luminance Variance

Nerd-Alert! I’m about to get into the weeds of exposure variance below. You certainly don’t need to know this to take cool shots with joined-up lighting, but it will explain another layer of creative control if you’re curious about it. You have been warned.

Up until now, I’ve spoken in terms of the joined-up lighting being a visual illusion to make 2 lights appear as 1. The illusion works as the lights are the same colour and typically the same exposure. But we can push that illusion a little before it breaks.

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There’s actually a fair amount going on technically in the above image. Yes, I’m using joined-up lighitng to keep the shot looking clean and simple by making 2 lights look like 1 light. But, if manipulated correctly, you can push the exposure values of one of those lights to create even more depth, but without making it look like a separate light.

I’d like you to take a moment and visualise what each of those 2 lights is actually lighitng in the shot. Now try imagining what the shot would look like with only one of those lights on, and do that for both of them. With what you’ve learned so far, especially given that you know exactly where those lights are placed, you should be able to recreate a pretty clear picture of what each light is illuminating.

Glanced light will typically create specular highlights on the right surface

I now want you to look again at the luminance values in the above image and see how that affects the final shot. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but the model's skin has those beautifully clean highlights running down her face on the right-hand side of the shot. What’s important to note here is that both lights are the same brightness, which is typically what you need to create the joined-up lighting effect. The eye won't be fooled into believing it's a single light if one of those two lights is far brighter than the other one.

But here we have another layer to consider. Specular highlights.

If you’re not familiar with specular highlights, then it's simply a brighter area of the shot that is a direct reflection of the light source itself. Most people know these as cathclights in the eyes, but you can create specular highlights with almost anything, given the right placement. This is a truly powerful tool that so many photographers underutilise, but if used correctly, you can leverage varying exposures on the same surface, purely by adjusting the angle at which the light strikes that surface.

In this instance, the light behind the model is pushed so far back that when she turns in a certain way, that light from behind will glance off the skin and create specular highlights. It’s these beautiful highlights you see here on the forehead and nose that add so much depth to the shot, which is especially useful in an image that is so dominated by colour.

Ironically, it's this technique that I use in nearly all of my gelled lighting shots and have done so for close to a decade. Simply exposing the skin only gets you so far; it’s the use of the right modifier and angle that does most of the heavy lifting in gelled lighting, which is why you see so many flat gelled lighting shots out there.

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Closing Comments

The example I’m showing you here is, of course, a very simple one, and the results are very easy and clear to see. But this same lighting principle can be applied to many situations, and even to more basic ‘white-light’ shots that utilise various Kelvin tones in a single shot, for example.

Joined-up lighting is a seemingly simple principle to understand, but a little trickier to actually pull off. Remember, this isn't just simply adding an edge-light to your key-light and calling that joined-up lighting. It’s clear to everyone that the image was taken with 2 very distinct lights. The trick is making 2 lights look like 1 light to create very clean, instantly digestible imagery and of course, this is an exceptionally useful tool to know when working with very bold colours like you’ve seen me do here.

Good luck if you try this one out, and if you think you're up for the challenge, see if you can shoot an image with joined-up lighting and then see if I’ll notice it’s 2 lights and not 1. Be sure to submit your results to the weekly -Share-a-Shoot- and I’ll gladly take a look.

Featured Model/Actress: Annav_roberts

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Products Used

Note: These are not affiliate links; I do not earn anything from you using these links. These links take you directly to Nanlite’s website for further info.

Nanlite PavoSlim 120C

Website Link

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Nanlite FC-500C

Website Link

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Nanlite FC-120C

Website Link

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FM-Mount Projection Attachment

Website Link

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Donate & Support

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

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

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Metal Grid Lens Diffusion Filter

Donate & Support

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. ||

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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This image does have a grid in front of the lens…

Example 2

This image has no grid over the lens…

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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Credits

Model: Jaye Hicks

Post-Pro Artefacts: Boris FX: Optics

Post Pro Grain: Vlad’s All-in-One Grain V3

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Donate & Support

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. ||

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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

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

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Capturing Motion with Long Exposure & Speedlights Outside

Donate & Support

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. ||

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For the most part, we rarely need to use flash outside in natural light, as there is typically more than enough daylight to capture the images we need. But, what if we wanted to add a little life to those boring, stationary images?

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I recently reviewed the Godox V100 speedlight, and during that review, I played with a few setups, one of which was a simple outdoor setup in natural light. At first glance, the images seemed simple enough, but the shots also demonstrated a sense of movement from the subject.

This very cool motion effect is achieved through long exposure, and yes, typically long exposure leaves you with a blurry mess. However, when you couple that with a flash, you can capture a very cool and visually engaging blend of motion and a frozen subject in the same frame.

I did briefly explain this setup during a recent livestream, but I still had some questions about the details, and to be fair, I do think there are a few small, very important detials with this setup that can make the images significantly better in my opinion and I’ll be going over what those are here in more detial.

What do you need?

The good news is that this is a very easy setup to achieve for most people, as all you really need is a speedlight and a little bit of daylight. Can a different flash work? Yes, if you wanted to use a regular flash and have it placed on a light stand to one side, you can still achieve the same principle of movement and frozen action.

Do I need TTL?

TTL stands for Through The Lens, and it’s a clever technology that allows your flash to adjust its power based on the settings and ingredients you throw at it. Don’t get me wrong, TTL is incredible for setups like this, and it will certainly make your life significantly easier, allowing you to work faster and get more shots in a limited time. However, TTL is not required to make this work. If you don’t have TTL on your speedlight, you’ll just need to work a little harder, not moving too close or far away from the subject once you’ve locked in an initial speedlight power.

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The Set Up

Background Choice

As I said, we’ll be setting this up outside, but that doesn't mean we can just do it anywhere. There are certainly things to look for when choosing a spot for this setup. I personally recommend finding a consistently toned background that doesn't have too many very bright and dark colours or highlights and shadows. We will be using this background as our long exposure backdrop, and if certain areas are far brighter or more colourful, they can ruin the long exposure effect by dominating the scene. I personally like the idea of a hedge or shrub, like you see me using here, as that gave me a very evenly toned backdrop to work with.

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In the image above, you can see that it is still very much daylight outside. As a result, I brought in a large black flag to try to reduce the light hitting the model, but this wouldn’t have been necessary if I had waited another 30 minutes for the sun to set. You can also see a fan being used here. That is, of course, optional, but it’s another way to add some movement to the shot via some wind in the hair.

Keeping to the Shadows

In keeping with the aforementioned evenly toned background, I would recommend doing this setup in the shadows. Ideally, this setup would be done later in the day when you have a lot more long-thrown shadow areas to choose from and, better still, wait until the sun has just gone down for the best results. The reason for this is twofold: one, bright sunlight can make long exposure images very challenging to achieve, as the sun is simply too powerful, and two, we want an even-toned background with minimal highlights. As soon as the sun has gone down, you can achieve this setup almost anywhere you want.

Locking in the Exposure

This step is going to be the tricky one, but once you have this dialled in, you’re all set. Remember, we want to shoot long exposure shots. First, you need to determine what that means to you personally and the look you're going for. What I mean by that is, how much motion and blur do you want in your shot? For example, a 1-second exposure will give you a lot of motion in the background, versus a shutter speed of 1/15th, which will be far more subtle.

For me, I went for a shutter speed of 1/8th of a second. If you set your camera to that and take a picture outside, even after the sun has set, you’ll immediately see the first problem. The shot is bright, and I mean very bright. What we need to do now is bring that exposure down, whilst keeping that long exposure shutter speed. You have two options. First off, lower the ISO to as low as your camera will go. For me and my Nikon D850 (this is also one of the reasons I love Nikon), I have an ISO 25. This is equivalent to a 2-stop ND filter from a typical ISO 100 value, and I use it all the time.

With your ISO at its lowest, we next need to close down the aperture if the shot is still too bright (it will be). This varies, of course, but for reference, mine was set to f/11. The sun was still very much out for my setup, so that’s why I had to go so high on the aperture. If the sun has gone down for you, this will be less of an issue.

Background Exposure

In the previous section, I mentioned my settings, but I didn't explain what I was exposing for. At this stage, I haven't added the speedlight, so I’m only trying to expose for the background behind the model. For this shot, I don’t actually want the background to be correctly exposed, as I want the model to stand out. With this in mind, I opted to underexpose the background by 1 or 2 stops, and I’ll show an example below of what I mean.

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On the left in the shot above, we can see what could be considered a ‘correctly’ exposed background. In the middle is what I set my camera to so as to darken that background down, and on the right, we have the model now standing in with no flash and an underexposed background.

Note that these are only example shots to demonstrate what I mean by underexposing the background, as I’m not using 1/8th of a second exposure here.

Exposing for the model

Once you have your background exposure locked down with your long exposure settings, all you have to do is turn the speedlight on and expose for the model.

If your speedlight has TTL…. you’re done. Simply start shooting.

I will say that although my V100 did have incredible TTL, I did opt to use the exposure compensator to reduce the brightness slightly by around 0.3 to 0.7. This just helped to avoid any blown highlights on the skin that can happen from direct flash.

If you don't have TTL, you just need to adjust the power of your speedlight manually until you’re happy. Of course, without TTL, adjusting for every shot as you and the model move, you’ll need to be conscious of how much you move around. Because as you or the model gets closer to one another at these shorter ranges, the exposure will jump up dramatically very quickly.

Adding the Movement

All that’s left to do now is add the movement. This may seem odd to many of you who’ve never done long exposure photography before, but the basics are quite simple: press the shutter and then immediately start shaking the camera around. There is, of course, a little more nuance to it than that once you know the effect you're going for, but ultimately, it's you moving the camera that creates the blurred effect.

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The Final Shots

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TL;DR/ADHD/Artist Setup Explanation

• wait for the sun to go down

• find a spot outside with even tone and non-contrasting colours

• under-exposure your camera for the background with the shutter speed you want

• turn on TTL on your speedlight

• press the shutter and start swinging your camera about

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Camera Settings

• Camera - Nikon D850

• Lens - 24-70mm 2.8

• Shutter Speed - 1/8th

• Aperture - f11

• ISO - 25

• Kelvin - 5600K

• Focal Length - 24mm

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Further points to consider

Flash Zoom

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Because I wanted to see movement in the image, I didn’t want the speedlight to freeze the entire frame. Most speedlights have a zoom function, which allows them to illuminate objects further away if needed with their longer zoom or to illuminate an entire group up close with their wider zoom. So, even though I was using this speedlight up close, I wanted to only flash the top half of the model, allowing the daylight and thus the long exposure movement to illuminate the bottom half.

To achieve this look, I simply set my V100 to maximum zoom, which is typically 105mm. You don’t need to do this, of course, but you may find that it's harder to see the movement in the shot, especially on the model, if her entire body is being lit and frozen by the flash.

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The image on the left above is a normal, non-long-exposure image. See how there seems to be a pool of light illuminating the model’s top half? And as you look lower down the image, you’ll see that it gets darker. It’s by using this pool of light on the top half, thanks to the speedlight zoom, that we’re able to leave the bottom half unfrozen by flash. Look again at the right-hand image above, and you’ll see that the spots on the dress aren’t frozen as the flash never reaches them. It's this separation of movement against a frozen image that gives such a sense of movement and energy to the shot.

How much movement?

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We’ve established how we technically achieve movement via our longer shutter speed, but how do we manage and control that movement? This is going to be the very creative aspect of this setup, and as I mentioned above, to those of you new to long exposure, it will seem very odd at first to start swinging your camera about after you've pressed the shutter.

On that note, I advise waiting until the shutter has been depressed before initiating the movement. If you start swinging the camera as the flash goes off, you’ll likely get unwanted movement in the final shot.

How you achieve the movement is up to you, but I'd recommend trying a few different motions to see what works best for you. Try moving the camera from left to right or vice versa to instil a sense of model movement. Try moving the camera straight up and down, or even try spinning the camera around using the lens as the axis. This will result in a very swirly pattern, and although very eye-catching, can be a little much.

Lastly, if you have a zoom lens, try taking the shot and then immediately twisting the lens to zoom into the subject while the shutter is open. This can create a very cool effect, and one that really draws the viewer into the shot.

In the example image displayed here, you can see that I've clearly spun the camera on the lens axis after the shot has been taken. By doing this, the further out you go from the centre of the shot, the more prominent and noticeable the motion effect is.

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Lastly…

One final note to bear in mind is to use an L-bracket on your camera if you choose to shoot with your speedlight on your camera’s hot-shoe and in portrait orientation. If you fail to do this, your flash will be off to the side and not above the model's eye-line when you turn your camera on its side. This results in some ugly cross-lighting and unflattering shadows, and it is definitely best avoided. Don’t feel bad if you do this though, as I still see scores of photographers and YouTubers making this mistake, so it’s an easy error to make. Thankfully, it’s also very easy to avoid.

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In the above image, you see the resulting image from shooting a flash image with your speedlight on your hotshoe and in portrait orientation.

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In the above shot here, we see what a huge difference it makes to the quality of the light when you use an L-bracket to keep that speedlight above the model’s eye line.

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If you’re interested, you can learn more about the L-bracket and when best to use it here…

You're Using Your Speedlight Wrong!

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Also, if you’re interested on my thoughts regarding the Godox V100 Speedlight that I used for this shoot, you can check out my review on it here…

Godox V100 Speedlight Review: This is Cheating!

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Donate & Support

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

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All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

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