I've been working on a new technique using fabric to add fluidity to photos. This is a popular technique used by many photographers today, and I'm now working this into a variety of photo genres, including fitness, dance, and fine art, and this also works well with maternity and intimate genres as well.
Through experimenting over a number of fabrics and textures, I've found chiffon to work great, and I found a supplier where I can buy this material inexpensively enough to keep plenty of it on-hand. I'll be working on more "Fabric Dancing" shots over the coming months, but I wanted to show you some of the results to show you how it's done, and how I can work this into shoots you may like to do.
First, here is the lighting diagram. It's a very simple setup shot in my home studio using a continuous roll of backdrop paper, one softbox with a high-speed Einstein light up high, and opposite that a large silver reflector.
From there the rest is fairly easy. I set the camera on a tripod to get a consistent composition, and when I watch the fabric move, I snap away at opportune times. The trick is to use the fabric as both a diffuser and reflector, which allows this fairly simple light setup. And, using a high speed strobe, action is frozen without any blur, which is why I use Einstein monolights, allowing me to shoot at about 1/8000 second. Lastly there is just the post processing to make black-and-white fine art or modify the backgrounds.
Here are a few takes from the recent test shoots, click on any to see the full-size image:
Look like something you'd like to try? I'm offering this at no extra cost, so give me a holler if you want to schedule a shoot using this new technique.
To see more of these and other works of mine, you can follow me on Facebook where you can also stay updated on offers, tips, tricks, and other fun photo stuff.