he difference between
editorial photography
and examples of
photojournalism that
you see in magazines
can be unclear. Editorial photos are
often created to support a story or
a piece of text, rather than as a
form of journalism. They are more
subjective than photojournalismimages, so you are able to compose
them in a more creative way.
When I first picked up a camera,
I had very little money to hire studio
spaces, but invested in some basic
lights and a small popup backdrop.
That grey fabric backdrop has
remained with me ever since; it’s
a bit worse for wear these days, but
still comes in handy when I’m ina tight space. It’s small enough to
carry to a client, or to pop up at
home. You can then use some basic
lighting, or shoot with natural light.
The key is not to feel restricted:
even if your working space is limited
you can still shoot images that are
worthy of fashion magazines.
Model: Alice Handoll
Make-up artist: Shannen-Rae OhrenT
2
Use simple lighting
For this shoot, I had two simple flashguns
triggered by my wireless remote. On the
right-hand side I had a larger octabox, set
to 1/4 power, and on the opposite side a
smaller octabox set to 1/32. You could
always shoot with just one single light, but
the second gives a small fill to the face.4
Set up your camera
I set my aperture to a mid-range f/8 and
lowered my ISO to its base setting of 160,
then tinkered with the shutter speed.
I eventually ended up at 1/160 sec, as
it was a small room, and the lights were
only about three feet away from Alice.
Now you’re ready to get creative...1
Prioritise the make-up
A great team is the key to a great shoot. Have
a space allocated for the hair and make-up
team to work with your model in comfort.
When you shoot in a studio space with a plain
background, everything in the preparation will
need to be perfect. These elements are just
as important as lighting and camera settings.3
Pop up your backdrop
Much the same as carrying around a reflector,
this popup backdrop folds down and fits into
a carry case. You might not want to be walking
miles around the streets with it, but it’s
perfect to take with you in the car or have
stored away at home. It provides a perfect
clean studio-style backdrop for your subject.8 | PORTRAITS32 DIGITAL CAMERA^ FEBRUARY 2022 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Create a mini popup studio
Alistair Campbell explains how you can achieve pro-standard
editorial images, even in a small space and on a limited budgetAlistair’s guide to shooting editorial photos