Project 2

How to set up your candles and Canon DSLR for great indoor portraits

Learn how to create atmospherically lit portraits at home

01 I SAID FOUR CANDLES…

We found using 20 tea lights produced enough light for our model’s face. Tea lights produce a slightly cooler tone than regular candles as the light is reflected against their silvery tins.

02 CAMERA SETUP

Our wide f/2.8 aperture blurred the foreground and background, a 1/100 sec shutter speed was fast enough to shoot handheld, and ISO500 captured enough light while rendering the background dark.

03 TAKE THE SHOT

We lay down to make the most of the candlelight reflecting against the floor – shoot any higher and too much foreground will appear in your frame – then focused on our subject’s face before taking the shot.

04 LITTLE PHOTOSHOP HELP

The model’s face is too dark in our Raw image, but this is easy to fix using ACR’S Adjustment Brush, with Exposure +2.00 and Shadows +40 to brighten the face, while ensuring the surroundings stay dark.