A simple trick, used by photographers the world over, is this. Can you see what we did in this shot from two days ago, a portrait of Liz Medori?
Yup, we used a fan. A simple cheap fan; I usually use an industrial fan from a home supplies store. That fan makes the hair do its wild sexiness thing, which you will see in many model photos.
And the good news: You need to know no technique for this. Even if you are a total beginner, nothing stops you from aiming a fan at your long-haired subject.
What else did I do in that photo? We had a make-up artist, Melissa T. We lit the model with one overhead softbox straight in front of her, plus one hair light aimed at us, for shampooey goodness™, plus one background light with a purplish gel aimed at the background. And I shot with a 70-200mm lens at the typical studio setting of 200 ISO, 1/125th second, f/8.
But even if you do not know what that means; go for it with the fan!
___
NOTE: As usual, this content is brought to you free of charge. As are all the other blog posts (the entire four-year searchable archive); the articles; and things like the free book chapter from my latest book – the entire chapter on Exposure (go to http://www.michaelwillems.ca/e-Books.html and click on “download sample). Yes, in addition I sell e-books and training and photography sessions, but this content is provided free of charge.
Since this is a business, though, let me ask you to so something in return: please send this post to three friends who may be interested. That way even more people benefit from this advice and these free lessons.
Fair deal?
Consider it done Michael. Great shot in today’s post!!!
Glad you like!
Just curious…how did you get her to keep her eyes open despite the fan blowing in her face?
Or is there something obvious that I’m missing?
Mustafa: by simply not using a powerful fan. This was a little mini fan, help close to her. She blinked a few times, but shoot a few and you will get lucky.