1 minute 101 Studio Photography Tips and Tricks!

Quick Photography Tips

I'm reposting some old studio lighting blogs from my old site host on to the new one, as they may help those new to studio photography.  I actually had a conversation just the other day with a client that covers things featured in these videos, so hopefully these will find you well, and that I don't find them too cringe while putting these blogs back together. 

So, during lockdown I threw out a bunch of videos as the studio was of course empty due to Covid, and I didn't want to sit on my hands doing nothing. These were all shot on my Canon 5diii or my Fimi Palm. The 5diii really isn't great at video, and the Fimi is just a budget DJI tiny handheld gimbal camera which is terrible in low light. The videos were designed to be under one minute so they could be posted on Instagram and TikTok, and equally of course with the concept that 1 minute is to the point and an easily digestible amount of information with no bells and whistles.  If you'd come searching for something specific and hadn't found it, nor had you just spent 20 minutes enduring an unrelated video which often happens.   And this time, with each video, I intend on including a blog to expand on the information should you wish to see the boring or more in depth stuff I couldn't cover in one minute.

I hated speaking on camera, so I got local photographer and friend Alex Bytheway to narrate them ASMR stylie.. it was never intended to be ASMR, but some people found it relaxing anyway!

Said 101's looked a little like this:

Studio Photography 1 minute 101's  v2 

Two years later, and everything has changed, and I'm not on about the fact that we're all allowed to hug each other again.  Tiktok allows video more than a minute now, and Instagram wall post videos no longer have to be just one minute.  But then came along 1 minute Instagram reels which favoured portrait orientated video, and they also have a better reach with in their algorithm, and then YouTube jumped on the bandwagon with portrait orientated sub 1-minute videos with their #shorts - so apparently I was well ahead of the curve on the timings at least.. and who would have thunk it!?

So 2022 rolls up, and I have the Canon R5 now, a hybrid camera that is great at video too. Add in the fact that you can never have too much content to post, and that SEO loves content, fresh blogs, and web pages that are word laden with context to what you do, and then sprinkle in the whole portrait video thing which was but a sin a few years back.... and now I have a reason to entertain myself all over again with a rerecord! Well, these 101s will be completely new. I'll look at the subject matter of the old ones as I likes some of the original ideas, but they won't be copies of in terms of wording etc, but they will still be fun, easy 1 minute snippets of photography tricks and tips, or just an introduction to some of the equipment we have here at Splash Point Photo photography studio.

You also get the unfortunate bonus of me hosting and narrating these, and they will look a little like this:

And yes, I'm aware of the continuity with the caps.. it was on purpose, so the question is, did you notice all the cap changes? :)

Stolen from our YouTube playlist description
I try to remember back to the questions I had, and the problems I found  when I first started exploring photography strobe lighting, and all while giving you an introduction to the basics.  These are intended to be confidence boosters for newer photographers, and to be small, digestible bite size snippets - if you don't find the answer you're looking for, at least you haven't sat through a 20-minute  video!  These aren't jargon laden hopefully, and when I use photography terms you may not be familiar with as a new photographer, I'll undoubtedly  explain and cover them in a later episode more specific to that subject,  as of course on the most part, I'll have to keep the dialogue short,  sweet, and in context.  I'm a self-taught dyslexic, so if I can do it, you can too!  There's  more information than ever available for free and at your fingertips, so this little part of the internet will hopefully cut through some of the  bullshit, and also be relatable to those coming to our studio who want  to get a head start with some of our gear here, yet are maybe not overly  confident!  If this encourages you to finally get out there shooting models, or booking in to a studio when you were previously daunted and intimated by the thought, then I've done my job!  Well, apart from also promoting  the fact that we have one of the UK's best and most creative studios :) -  www.splashpointphoto.co.uk