When you’re working inside a tiny attic photo studio, you have to get creative to make a space feel massive. For this shoot, we wanted to build a conceptual world that felt surreal and cinematic, so we decided to bring the energy of a live concert stage right into our attic.
To make it happen, we built a custom box set intended to reference a stage performance.
(If you want to learn to build a box set definitely check out our set building courses where David teaches you how)
But we knew that to get the absolute most out of our lens filters, we needed to blast the set with hard light.
Here is exactly how we set up the lighting and used two different Prism Lens FX filters to create these ultra-vibey images entirely in-camera.
The Setup: Hard Light & In-Set Practicals
We've found that Prism Lens FX filters thrive on direct, intense light sources to catch the glass and create flares, glows, and reflections.
We started by using a tight spotlight as our key light, which instantly gave us that dramatic, solo-performer look. To take the concept further, we integrated two Aputure Storm 80c lights directly into the background of the set itself, pointing right back toward the camera like the lights you see at a concert.
This did two things: it nailed the stage aesthetic, and it gave the lens filters an incredible amount of hard light to work with to really exaggerate the effects. To top it off, we had our model wear a suit made entirely of sequins to catch those hard beams and shatter the light across the frame.
Moody FX Filter (Vibrant Starbursts)
First, we shot with the Prism Lens FX Moody FX Filter. This one is basically a starburst filter and a classic dream filter put together into one filter. It softens your highlights while creating striking starburst patterns wherever the light hits hardest.
We played with a ton of colored lighting for this look. When those colored lights hit the sequin suit, the Moody FX filter turned every single reflection into a sharp, exploding starburst. It gave us a super dynamic, high-energy performance style image.
Lucid Dream FX Filter (Cinematic Halation)
Next, we swapped over to the Prism Lens FX Lucid Dream Filter. While the Moody FX gives you those sharp starburst points, the Lucid Dream filter deeply softens highlights and makes hard light look incredibly glowy.
Using this filter and photographing directly into our Aputure lights integrated into the set completely transformed things. The harsh, direct light softened into a soft wash of light that wrapped around the model. It took a small wooden box set and made it feel like a massive, moody venue filled with haze. Both filters added a massive layer of surrealism to the final images.
Compare Those to No Filter
Just for the sake of contrast, here are few images that were photographed without any filters. The light is much harsher and you can really see the phyical lights more. I still really like these images, but I do think the Prism Lens FX filters really helped create more of a dynamic concert-like aesthetic.
Grab 15% Off Prism Lens FX
If you want to add these to your own gear kit and start experimenting with hard light setups, we have an awesome affiliate deal with Prism Lens FX that gets you 15% off your purchase.
At the end of the day, this shoot was just another reminder that you don't need a massive studio to create something cinematic sets or use practical effects. With a little bit of imagination, some plywood, and the right gear, you can create absolutely anywhere.
Wadrobe: Laura Citron
Shoes: Irregular Choice
Model: Bethany Brittle
Category: The Attic Series
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