One Collapsed Umbrella

for those of you who follow the work of the Australian photographer Peter Coulson, you’ll notice his direct influence in my latest studio shoots.  I find Peter’s black and white studio photography to be extremely evocative, and his use of light produces some fantastic results.  

Recently, Peter posted a tutorial on his use of one collapsed umbrella on a boom to achieve a consistent quality of light that would expose the subject and the background evenly in a way that mimics natural light.  During my recent shoot with the fantastic Rebecca Lawrence, I gave the set up a try and I was impressed by the results.  

Each of these looks was achieved with the same light set-up on a white cyc wall.  One overhead strobe at a quarter power with a large silver umbrella angled up and collapsed towards Rebecca.  Simply put, I highly recommend it for a quick and easy set up.