Learn How This Creative, Painterly Portrait Was Shot

You might be surprised by the sort of unique images you can create just by using common objects in a creative manner and adding a bit of unusual technique. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how a photographer combined shutter dragging with a bit of creative prop usage to shoot this fascinating portrait. 

Coming to you from Lindsay Adler Photography, this great video tutorial will show you how she shot this interesting image that combined iridescent cellophane with dragging the shutter to create a vivid, colorful, and painterly portrait. In it, Adler takes the cellophane, which she normally uses to create interesting light effects, and instead uses it as a headpiece. For lighting, she used a Profoto white beauty dish with a grid (the grid helps to keep the light from spilling on the background, while the beauty dish gives a nice dose of punchy contrast). She also uses the modeling light on a second strobe to help bring out the interesting light effects created by the cellophane when she drags the shutter. Generally, it takes a bit of experimenting to figure out the right shutter length for this effect depending on the circumstances; in this case, Adler uses a shutter speed of a third of a second while zooming in and out and wiggling the camera a bit in the process. With this technique, you will get a different result each time, so be sure to take lots of shots! Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

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.

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