The streaks of light, light dots, the haze… this Hollywood movie style was created fully in camera. It was achieved with 3 lights and a bit of fog from fog machine.

The lighting strikes are produced by 2 strip boxes – they were upgraded with DYI felt covers. So here are some tips, how to make them by yourself (you can buy them as well if you do not have time to do them yourself…).

WHAT YOU NEED is a piece of black fabric at leat 10 cm longer and wider than the size of your strip box. I selected black felt because it is rigid and does not change shape, it is much easier to attach it to the strip box. The only disadvantage of using felt is that all the dust and hair attaches to it easily.

I cut out 4 circles with a diameter of 16 cm. With 16 cm distance between each.

To mount the felt fabric on the strip box, I used velcro – or just one piece of velcro, (cause felt sticks to it easily). The velcro was attached to strip box with hot glue.

Attach your felt overlay on the strip box and…. enjoy experimenting with studio light!

AND IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE WITH ME – let me invite you to my maternity and portrait workshops. List of available locations can be found here: MATERNITY AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS WITH Marta Ponsko.

When jewellery is not enough… Adding sparkle to the maternity photoshoot…

I have always refrained from gold flakes set ups. I did not have any idea how to attach them so the application would not take too long and the flakes would stay on the skin and most of all it would be easy to remove them after the maternity session. It has never been my favourite styling – because I was struggling with gold flying everywhere in the studio, it sticking to the floor, outfits and camera…

It was discouraging until I found an efficient way to deal with all the above problems. Let’s start with answering a few key questions regarding using gold leaf flakes during maternity photoshoot.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE GOLD LAYER FROM GOLD FLAKES? Most of the poses that I do when posing with golden flakes attached to the skin are side poses or poses where only one leg and / or arm is exposed. So I start with determining how much skin should be covered with gold. I cover part of the belly, chest, neck, arm and leg to get nice effect and a variety of poses. It usually takes up to 20 minutes to have everything covered and the gold layer structured. Once you attach the gold flakes – you need to make nice cracks.

Remember that retouching skin between the flakes might be a nightmare, so make sure you cover all the potentially difficult areas with gold.

WHAT TO USE TO ATTACH GOLD FLAKES TO THE SKIN? The best glue for the gold flakes is body oil. I ask the model to rub the oil gently into the body, but leaving rather thick layer of oil on the skin (because part of it will be quickly absorbed by the skin). If the body oil layer is too thin, the flakes will start to fall off quickly and you will have them everywhere in your studio (and believe me, it is not easy to get rid of them from the floor).

HOW TO REMOVE THE GOLD FLAKES FROM THE BODY? If the layer of the oil is thick enough – removing the gold will be easy. Just rub the skin with tissues. Do not try to remove them under the shower – the gold will clog the drain. Do not put clothes on the skin covered in gold.

WHERE TO BUY THE GOLD FLAKES? I buy them in local art store such as this one in Poland, you can find it as SZLAGMETAL. Search on amazon for: Gold Foil Paper, Gold Leaf Flakes Gold Foil Flakes Foil Sheets for Crafts – and choose the big leafs

I hope you enjoyed those tips 🙂

How to pose like a model while sitting? Let me five you some tips and tricks for posing on a chair and present you some interesting ideas for poses. I will show you how to position your body, legs and hands to avoid awkward poses. Let’s start with the basics to make you look photogenic:

LEAN FORWARD: For sitting poses, it’s always best to lean forward. Because your body is farther away from the camera, it looks slimmer and highlights your face. Pulling the shoulders away from the ears and pushing the chin forward can help you keep fully straight; this also works well for sitting positions.

ARCH YOUR BACK: arching the back can accentuate the curves of the body. While seating on the edge of the chair subtly arch the lower back and lift the chest slightly. This pose can enhance the silhouette and contribute to a more  confident appearance in the portrait or maternity photo

DROP YOUR SHOULDERS: Focus on dropping your shoulders down and back slightly. This adjustment helps create an open and confident posture while preventing any tension in the upper body. 

FEET ON TOES: For an elongated and flattering leg posture, consider placing the feet on toes or pointing the toes slightly. This technique can add a subtle lengthening effect to the legs and accentuate the lines of the body, especially when wearing tight pants  or stockings

RELAXED HANDS: Ensure your hands are relaxed and natural. Avoid stiffness by lightly resting them on the arms of the chair, gently overlapping or interlacing fingers, or softly resting one hand on your belly for maternity shoots. Avoid tensing fingers or making a fist

What do you use in your studio to blow your models hair? Hair dryer? Fan? Waving piece of board? What works best for you? I have a big fan on foot with speed and angle regulation. It is 5th fan during 5 years… I keep on destroying them very often 🙂 I love it and hate it – love it for strong wind and hate it for size and cord lying on the floor.

So I found something tiny and powerful that only requires: someone holding it (I usually work with an assistant or other maternity and portrait photographers who attend my maternity and portrait photography workshops) and charging from time to time. It gives me flexibility to use it anywhere I want and with an adjusted strength.

I can use it to blow the hair, blow fabric, blow the studio backdrop if I want to make it move (like e.g. mylar or fabric backdrops from Pastelowe Marzenia or Baby Bonnet). I can use it to clean the dirt from the backdrop (clean it from hair or sequins that fell from the dresses or cake crumbles left after family session). It is awesome when you want to clean less or camera and laptop from dust.

So if you need something small and remote but powerful – Kica Jetfan (this link will guide you to a Polish store, if the product is out of stock – look for amazon or allegro sellers) will be a great choice.

AND IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE WITH ME – let me invite you to my maternity and portrait workshops. List of available locations can be found here: MATERNITY AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS WITH Marta Ponsko.

• SPAIN / VALENCIA – January 16th, 2024

• NETHERLANDS / AMSTERDAM – January 23rd, 2024

• PORTUGAL / LISBON – February 5th, 2024

• USA / CHICAGO – March 2nd, 2024

• USA/ LAS VEGAS – March 8th, 2024

• ITALY / NAPLES – March 25th, 2024

• ESTONIA / TALLINN – May 9th, 2024

• UK, LONDON – July 1st, 2024

Using water on your model to create wet look is the simplest solution. I have a basic spray in my studio and if I want to add some sparkle to my images – I can use that but when the winter comes I try to avoid using water. I just do not want my models to leave studio soon after drying their hair to avoid damage to hair and also avoid catching cold after my photoshoot.

On top of that if you use water on the face, the damage to make up might spoil the final effect on your portraits. The drops of water also fall down pretty quickly. To get some time to photograph the drops of water – you need to use something that it thicker, more greasy – so to the get that effect I use hair spray 🙂

Hair spray 🙂 yes… sounds crazy, but it is not a typical hair spray but olive oil nurishing hair conditioner.

Let me know if this tip was useful 🙂