Model shoots in small spaces

Sunday 16 August 2020, 14:28 by Frank Doorhof | 4,892 views | 1 comment

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

We all dream of endless space to photograph in, of course, but reality is often different. Usually, it is simply smaller than we would like. That does not have to be a problem at all.

One of the workshops I have been giving for years is called 'Working in small spaces' and I have to be honest, working in small spaces is a great challenge and, believe it or not, it often makes things a little easier.

What can you do, for example?

Absolutely do not try to hide everything. Especially in smaller spaces, that is often simply not an option, so 'embrace the mess'. In other words, use what you have and show it too.

In the photo above, I simply put a large amount of stuff in the set, from flash units to a mirror ball that we used to have hanging in the shop for security.

If you organise everything a little, you soon see a kind of 'set' taking shape, and you can build from there. What I usually say is that you should not try to do it as if you have just 'thrown everything down', but certainly not as if 'we are making it super tidy' either. You need to find something in between.

The advantage of this way of thinking is that you can also calmly show the studio ceiling, or an exit sign, and so on. As long as it belongs in that set.

I have to admit that the first few times it looks absolutely wrong, and you wonder what on earth you have done wrong. But it comes naturally.

A few things I pay attention to:

1. It should have something to do with photography if I use it in the studio.


2. It must not draw attention away from the model. Do not underestimate this, it unfortunately happens very quickly. What can help, for example, is not putting down a standard strip light, but using a grid. This turns a large white area into something that attracts much less attention.


3. Lines. I love lines in a photo, so I always try to bring those lines back into the arrangements. Sometimes it is just a slight tilt of an object, or turning something.


4. Area distribution. I want to give my model all the attention, so I often make sure there are some darker elements behind the model, in the direction they are looking, and some brighter ones in front, where they are looking towards. This keeps things interesting and directs the viewer towards that side.

Working in small spaces is a huge challenge, but definitely one that pays off. When I started doing demos at trade shows, it was always a matter of figuring out what on earth you could do in a space of two by two metres.

You soon discover that once you let go of the standard idea of 'model against a background', there are an enormous number of possibilities.

Do you think this is an interesting subject?
Let me know and I will write more about it.

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