How I got the photo: Magical treasure chest

I adore doing fantasy/fairytale-themed photoshoots. I recently did an Aladdin/I dream of Jeannie-inspired portrait session, with harem pants, belly dancer outfits, Turkish rugs and hookah pipes — the whole bit. So much fun. I also have this fabulous little wooden treasure chest which is perfect for making a little bit of magic happen.

Our Genie and the treasure chest

The hidden flash

I have a small dumb flash, set to slave. It fires if any of my other strobes flash. It’s small and can be hidden in treasure chests, books (fake and real) and so much more. The trick is to have the room a little darker and the flash strong enough to light your model’s face without over-exposing it. This flash, while small, is quite close to the face. I had my flash set to 1/8th power. My other strobe was turned down to 1/64th power so as not to overpower the little one.

My chest is not very deep and the little flash just hides inside (similar to in the fake book in the above images), if the model is holding the lid open towards her it will light her face. Just warn your model about looking directly into the flash, as it can be blinding and disorienting. I frequently ask them to close their eyes or look at me instead. Warn them when you are about to take your photo.

A little Photoshop magic

I took the RAW file into Photoshop and cleaned it up a little. Then, I darkened the edges of the image with a vignette and added a little more light and some sparkles to the light emanating from the treasure chest. You could do the whole light in Photoshop, but I prefer to get it right in the camera and then enhance it with a few sparkles.

Anything that can hold or hide a small flash could work, I’ve used books, boxes and light fittings. It’s just a matter of hiding the actual body of the flash. Curious to see the rest of the images from this Portrait Session? Check it out here: “Dreaming of Genie”