How to Create Strip Box Lighting
Backdrop: Blue Corrugated Steel
If you've never used a strip box light for portraits, you're missing out...
What's so great about strop box lighting is that it lights the model's entire body all at the same time with the same light. The result of that, as you can see above, is a gorgeously lit portrait with even lighting throughout.
The question is, how do you master the art of strip box lighting?
Our good friend Kat Armendariz (or Kat on the Web as we like to call her) of hushXpose in Las Vegas tells us precisely how to use this unique type of lighting in the video below.
As Kat notes in the video, she had her daughter, Jocelyn, pose for the shot on a tall ladder.
With that height, having a long, thin strip box to illuminate the portrait was the perfect fit.
The whole look comes together beautifully with the Blue Corrugated Steel Backdrop by Click Props Backdrop to add a bit of grittiness to the shot.
And since these backdrops are so durable, you can use them as floors too!
Backdrop: Blue Corrugated Steel; Floor: Sheet Steel
As Kat demonstrates, you can get these things wet, walk on them, put a ladder on them, and otherwise use and abuse them without them suffering any ill effects.
The Old Master Grey Backdrop that she's used as the floor for this shot looks just as good after the shoot as it did at the start. With that kind of durability and functionality, you can outfit your studio with a couple of backdrops and have them pull double-duty as floors too. Nice!
Back to strip box lighting...
You don't have to just use a light like this in vertical orientation.
As shown in the self-portrait above, Kat used the strip box light horizontally to get gorgeous spread lighting that evenly covered her outstretched body.
This application is also great for photographing kids when they're on the floor or for getting that same spread out, even lighting for family portraits.
Backdrop: Factory Floor; Floor: Old Master Grey
You can use a Westcott Ice Light in a similar fashion as a strip box light as well.
In the image above, the only light in the room was the ice light, and as you can see, the results are highly dramatic.
That just goes to show how using strip lighting can help you get gorgeous shots, whether you're using it as a primary light source, the only light source, a fill light, and so on!
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About Kat
Kat Armendariz is a published studio photographer in Las Vegas. She has a passion to create out-of-the-box portraiture and to give women an experience that will be a stepping stone to new found confidence.
Her photo studio sits in the heart of Las Vegas where she gets to work with incredible clients from all over the globe. Her studio, hushXpose, is a compilation of her two studio names: Hush Hush Shoot (boudoir photography), and Pose Las Vegas (glamour photography).
hushXpose offers an all-inclusive Hollywood experience where Kat and her all-female team work with clients one-on-one to create custom sets and scenes tailored to their clients.
Kat and her husband, Ephraim Armendariz, also own the US District for Click Props Backdrops, which specializes in professional-grade heavy-duty vinyl studio backdrops. Click Props Backdrops let you choose from an extensive and exclusive range of multi-award-winning backgrounds and floorgrounds to give you the opportunity of offering clients a multi-set portrait experience.
