From dining table to winter wonderland
Saturday 19 September 2026, 22:44 by Rob Zwart | 50 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Everyone knows the feeling: you have a creative idea and lots of new Godox equipment to test, but time is ticking away relentlessly. No time to go on location, so the dining table has to do.
With a teddy bear as a willing model and the light from a living room window behind and to the right, I took on my own challenge.
Bear on the dining table - f/2, 1/200s, 100 ISO @ 85mm
The goal
To show how you can work creatively in little time with a clever flash setup. And then transform an apparently 'ordinary' photo into a high-end studio setup, which then provides the perfect basis for a creative composite.
The challenge
Speed and improvisation. As a photographer, you would ideally spend hours on a shoot. But sometimes it has to be quick. Armed with the brand-new Godox X3 Pro Nikon trigger, the AD200Pro II and the AD100Pro II, I decided to build a quick setup in the living room.
Subject
The subject was a distinctive teddy bear with a colourful Indian scarf, posing on the wooden dining table.
Embracing existing light
There is a large window to the right of the table. Instead of overpowering this light with flash, I decided to embrace it as an extra 'rim light'. The daylight immediately created a beautiful, dreamy glow on the right side of the bear's fur.
The downside of such a bright light source from the side? The left side of the bear disappeared completely into deep, hard shadows. And that is where the new Godox set got to show its muscle.
The flash setup: Soft vs. hard. To subtly fill in the shadow side, I chose the AD200Pro II (Group A), placed in a parabolic softbox.
Thanks to this modifier, the flash light was spread so softly that the result looks as if there were another large window on the left. No harsh flash hotspots, just pure texture in the fur.
At the back of the bear, I supported the window light with the compact AD100Pro II (Group B), which I used bare, without a modifier, to retain that sharp, punchy shine on the bear's ear and arm.
One-Tap Wireless Sync and 1/512 power. What immediately stands out when working with this new generation of flashes is how easy it is. Thanks to One-Tap Wireless Sync on the X3 Pro trigger, the flashes were paired at the press of a button.
No messing around with entering channels manually. The Group Color Indicator also responds brilliantly: Group A lit up red and Group B green, giving you an instant overview of your set.
Because the bear was photographed from close up at f/2, I needed very little light.
The AD200Pro II proved its worth here by unlocking the Custom Functions (C.Fn STEP) to a minimum power of no less than 1/512. This kept the flash light extremely subtle and perfectly balanced with the soft daylight.
The result - f/2, 1/200s, 100 ISO @ 85mm
The transformation
The original photo on the dining table, the first photo, shows that the exposure is technically correct. The flashes are 'invisible'; they fill in the light, but do not overpower it.
Precisely because the exposure, the details in the fur and the edges of the bear looked so clean and natural, this photo was the perfect basis for taking a creative step further.
Using a digital background replacement, I transformed the warm dining table into a atmospheric winter forest in no time, the second photo.
The rim light that initially came from the living room window now works perfectly as the low winter sun between the snow-covered trees.
Conclusion
Equipment that works for you. This quick session proves that you can build a 'studio' anywhere with the right flash technique.
Whether you choose a straightforward, homely product photo or use the image as the basis for a complex photo composite, the control and subtle power of the new Godox Pro II series took me from an 'ordinary' photo to the final result I wanted in no time!
About the author
My motto is: being a bit good is not good enough. I try to learn something new every day so I can do it better next time.
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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
