How to Easily Remove Light Stands From a Shot Using Compositing and Photoshop

Light stands are not known for being inconspicuous, and as such, if they are in your shot, they can be a real pain to deal with. However, with some careful planning, you can make it super easy to quickly composite the light stand out in Photoshop, and this helpful video will show you exactly how to do that.

Coming to you from our friends over at SLR Lounge, this awesome video will show you how to composite out light stands in post. You might think that the solution is simply not to have the lights in the frame in the first place, but this is not always an option. First, if you are shooting outdoors, you may need to keep the light fairly close to your subject simply to keep the ability to overpower the sun. Second, if you are shooting wide angle environmental portraits, it might be simply impossible to keep the light stands out of the frame without them ending up too far away. Nonetheless, with a little bit of forethought and preparation, it is not a difficult or time-consuming process to composite them out in Photoshop. Check out the video above to see exactly how it is done. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

Log in or register to post comments