Mannequin

I've put up a shot from our course today: I'm too tired to go out and do more photography now. We've been using studio lights, as well as off-camera flash, and this mannequin has been our model. She's very cooperative in that she doesn't move on us (wouldn't matter if she did, with the high flash speed), but the dark hair and dark, shiny dress (carefully selected by our tutor) do present lighting problems. She has rather shiny skin, too! Although I prefer outdoor subjects generally, I've learned heaps that is applicable to any situation, and understand much better how to make good use of the pop-up flash on my camera that previously I regarded as a gimmick to be used only in an emergency situation. We've been balancing ambient light with flash so that windows don't burn out in indoor shots, and learning how to light a whole room with reflecting surfaces, including glass-fronted cupboards. We found it challenging. I'm sure this is elementary to most of you, but as I've always shied away from artificial lighting, this was all new to me.