Exploring Light and Colour in Photography with Model Gongon at Tekumi Studios Vol 19

The newest installment in my studio workshop series features behind-the-scenes footage highlighting some of our experimental lighting techniques from the day.

2025 has been a ride thus far and we're not even half way through! Right from the get go I've had some of my best months for client bookings so I've been extremely fortunate and blessed to see the hard work start paying off. One of the downsides is I've had much less time to put towards some of the other aspects of my photography, namely my studio workshop series as VOL 19 with Tokyo-based model Gongon was the first (and so far only) one I've done this year. It took a while but finally I'm happy to release the results for you all!

Below I'll break down one of the 3 set from that day.

Checking the shots with model Gongon in studio

SET 1 - Shutter Drag

I was told a little before the shoot by one of my model friends that I tend to shoot a lot in the same red and/or blue color palettes. Of course I defiantly said this was not the case until I took a scroll through my instagram feed and yeah ok, I'll give that one to her! We all gravitate towards certain styles and colours but I took it as a personal challenge to do something a bit different for this one.

The key to a good shutter drag shoot is to make sure you have at least 2 lights. One will be the flash on the subject to freeze them and the second will be your constant light on the subject to drag the light. Depending on where you place the constant light on the subject will give you different effects, for example if you place it behind them or in front of them. It's all about experimentation!

SETTINGS

Camera: Sony A7IV +

Lens: Sony 24-70GMII 2.8

ISO: 200

Shutter Speed: .5 to .8 seconds

Aperture: f/14

White Balance: Flash

Background: Fashion Gray 

Lighting setup on the day looked something like below. On the left front of the model using a Godox AD600bm with beauty dish and grid as the key light on the models face and the Amaran 300C RGB light slightly behind the model on the right. The gray backdrop can be lit with any color you prefer and I had 2 speed lights with gels pointed towards the backdrop on either side.

As you can see, I think I definitely was able to accomplish using some fresh color combos that are outside of my usual and I absolutely love the results. Definitely give it a try yourself and change the colors to anything of your liking (that works within colour theory of course).

MORE FROM THAT DAY

Below are some more images from the 2nd and 3rd set of the day. I especially love the retro aesthetic we achieved with the Katana set with that green and orange color palette. Gave me a real Kill Bill x old school 70's samurai movie vibe!

(Make sure to scroll through the images)

Thanks always to the amazing and creative photographers who came out that day and as always if you're in Tokyo and want to join the next one feel free to send me a DM on Instagram and be sure to join the Tekumi Meetup for Creatives group to be informed of future events!

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