My Little Experiment with the Chelsea Bradley Look
Okay, so I stumbled across some stuff attributed to a Chelsea Bradley sometime back. Can’t even remember where, maybe online somewhere, you know how it is. What struck me was this specific visual style, a kind of lighting or mood in the photos. Really caught my eye. Looked simple, but deep down, I figured it wasn’t quite as straightforward as it seemed.
So, I thought, why not give it a try myself? See if I could get that same kind of feel in my own shots. Seemed like a decent weekend project, better than just sitting around.
Getting Started – The Setup
First thing, I pulled out my old camera. Nothing fancy. Then I tried to break down what I was seeing in those inspiration pictures. Looked like:
- Soft, diffused light, maybe from a window but not direct sun.
- A specific color palette, kinda muted but warm.
- Focus seemed sharp on the subject, but the background fell off nicely.
I set up near a north-facing window in my living room. Grabbed a few random objects – a ceramic mug, an old book, that sort of thing. Just stuff I had lying around.
The Messy Middle Part
Man, those first few attempts were pretty bad. The lighting was all wrong. Either too bright and flat, or way too dark. Couldn’t get that soft look I was after. Fiddled with the camera settings for ages. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed – went through all the motions. Honestly, felt like I was just guessing half the time.
Then I spent some time just looking again at the Bradley examples I remembered. Really looking. Noticed the shadows weren’t harsh; they were soft, gradual. Maybe my light source was still too direct?
So, I grabbed a thin white sheet and hung it over the window. Just taped it up there crudely. That actually made a difference. It softened the light quite a bit.
Getting Somewhere
Okay, light was better. Next, the colors. In post-processing (just using basic software, nothing professional), I started playing with the color balance. Tried warming things up slightly, desaturating the blues and greens a bit. Took a lot of back-and-forth. Made it look sickly sweet at first, then too cold. Eventually, I landed on a setting that felt… closer. Not identical, mind you, but in the ballpark.
Getting that background blur required me moving the object further from the wall and using a wider aperture on my camera. Simple physics, really, but took me a bit to get it right with my setup.
What I Ended Up With
After a few hours spread over a Saturday, I got a couple of shots I didn’t immediately hate. Here’s the thing: they don’t look exactly like the Chelsea Bradley stuff that inspired me. Not even close, if I’m being honest. But they have a look. It’s my look, born from trying to mimic someone else.
It’s funny, isn’t it? You start by trying to copy, but the limitations of your gear, your space, your own eye – they force you down a slightly different path. You end up making something that’s a mix of the original idea and your own constraints.
This whole thing reminded me of when I tried learning guitar years ago using only internet tabs. I was trying to play exactly like the record, but my cheap guitar and clumsy fingers meant it always sounded… well, like me trying to play it. You never quite capture the original, but the process teaches you something else entirely.
So yeah, that was my little adventure trying to figure out that Chelsea Bradley style. Didn’t nail it, but definitely learned a bit about light and color, and ended up with some photos that feel kind of unique in their own way. Worth the effort, I’d say.
