Stencils, patterns for studio photography

[mentos_007]

Hi! Yesterday I saw some great pictures from a wedding. All taken in the studio but fascinating. In the first plan there we a couple and in the background - wall but greatly lightened... you see... hearts on the wall... I know it was done with stencils from paper were hearts were cut out. It looked awesome! I hope if you know what I'm talking about because it is extremely difficult to explain. BUT do you use something like that? If so, do you use paper or what?

 

[mentos_007]

noone used it?

 

[GerryDavid]

Got any pictures to show what your talking about? :0) Im having a dense day today, hehe.

 

[craig]

Excellent topic. I think you are talking about gobo's (may not be the technical term). I use cardboard cut out shapes in front of a light; to create a shadow. In the gobo's simplest form it can subdue some nasty highlights. Creatively it can produce some beautiful shadows. The key is; the closer the gobo is to the subject the harder the shadow. Closer to the light source the softer the shadow.

 

[SWFLA1]

In my studio I used those... there is a system that consists of a box with a "filter" or Stencil holder at one end that fits over a studio strobe. You can make the graphic as large or small as you like by varying the distance between the light and the background. You can also use gels to change the color of the projection... it's pretty cool.

 

[Jovian]

We always called them cookies...when there was a cut out to create shadows in the picture.

Gobo cards are when you just use a card to block light from one area to control highlights.

Thats how we always used the words though...I could be wrong.

 

[mentos_007]

YES!!!! I was talking about it!!!
but you see, I tried to make it alone... something like DIY but... hearts that I tried tu cut out were saquare