One of the things that I find fun is finding ways to achieve certain looks in photography. Either by the technically correct, or the "ghetto" way. One of the most beneficial art classes I took in college was my lighting class. Granted we learned about different studio light set ups and how to use a pocket wizard and all that other good stuff that comes with studio lighting. But the part that I'm talking about was learning how to read light. For our final my professor ripped out pages of a magazine at random and handed them out. We were instructed to recreate the image to the best of our abilities, with our main focus on getting the light right. This class helped open my eyes to finding ways to analyze images and to deconstruct them in order to replicate them. Which is especially useful when you want to recreate a look that is outside of your norm and don't have the means ($$$) or need to purchase the real deal. If you read my post about combatting the "Slow Season," then you'll recognize these pictures of my dog, Scout, on her second birthday. I don't own a backdrop stand, and that's not a real backdrop, in fact, it's wrapping paper. I thought you all might enjoy a little tutorial on how to achieve a pro look on a ghetto set up. 

     The first thing you need to consider is where you are going to set up your "studio." Like everything with photography, light is the number one factor to making a great image. One of my favorite things about my home is my front room. I'm blessed to wake up to a huge bay window that lights the entire space. You can get a feel for the light it emits in last year's "May the 4th be with you" Star Wars picture I took. 

Once you've established your location with the best light, you'll want to figure out when that light is the best. You'll want the light to be even and soft. So in my case, the light is the best in the morning and evening. After you've established the where and the when, now you get to the fun part; picking out your wrapping paper!

For my demonstration, I chose three different wrapping paper - teal, bird print and just plain white. And if you know me at all I am all about that easy way (read: lazy) so I'll show you two ways you can do this. The first, (and probably better outcome) is to cut your wrapping paper and tape it to the wall. I want to be able to use my wrapping paper for more than just this particular photoshoot, so I taped the bottom piece to my couch and had Danny (the hubs) unroll it and hold it up behind Jones. 

Since this particular roll of wrapping paper was one of the weird half ones I had to get pretty tight on Jones to avoid any unwanted distractions in the background. 

The next on the docket (aka - the next roll taped to the couch) was my printed wrapping paper. I opted to shoot at f2.5 to combat my antsy and fast moving toddler - and as a result the owls are a bit soft, which I'm fine with. You can play with your f stop to figure out what works best for you. 

The last "wrapping paper" is my solid white one. This one is technically a roll of craft paper but it works just as well. I couldn't snap a clear picture of the pull back because Jones (and Danny) were done. ha. But for being a little stinker, they turned out pretty cute!

Had I actually taped the paper to the wall I would've had a smoother background to work with and would have avoided any sheen or reflection of light from having the paper at an angle that comes when you hand hold something. You can also try mixing it up! For Jones' portraits I had him directly in front of the window - you can tell from the reflection in his eyes. But for Scout's pictures I had her to the right of the window for a more Dutch, "Girl with the Pearl Earrings" vibe. #arthistorynerd Thanks for reading! I hope this inspires you the next time you walk down the party aisle.

(You can also see me in Jones' eyes!)