Create classic cinematic images

Elisha Knight creates stylistic portraits with the perfect combination of dramatic lighting and cinematic color grading.
Her work ethic and signature style are constantly inspiring us. We discussed her technique, inspirations, and her passions.

I’d describe my photographic style as classic and cinematic.

I’m generally a positive person but my work has a more moody aesthetic.
I think my honest nature is what shows in my photography.

Finding my photographic style is a never-ending pursuit. A shift in my photography happened when I stopped solely relying on other photographers for inspiration as it can be creatively limiting. Nowadays, I trust my judgment depending on the shoot while being influenced by many different things such as film, nature, paintings, and of course other photographers.

Making artificial light feel as natural as possible.

Looking back at some of my earliest work, I recognized that I was naturally drawn to the lighting. I began noticing how light played in everyday life. When I learned that the lighting in some of my favorite photographs and films was artificial, a whole new world opened up for me.
I began experimenting with all forms of light slowly learning about the intricacies of how light can be used to enhance an image.

Today I enjoy the challenge of making artificial light feel as natural as possible.

Color grading plays an important role in my workflow.

For the past couple of years, I have wanted to create color presets both for myself and others to use to achieve a similar look to my own. Many have asked about them and I’m excited to announce that the presets are available now at www.elishaknight.com/the-shop !

How am I challenging myself?

I got very comfortable with my go-to lighting setup—a one-light with a bounce. It’s a classic setup but my work started to feel redundant. In the past year I have been experimenting with more lights, using different modifiers, and also playing around with motion blur/ways to distort my images. It’s been really fun to experiment with, and I am super happy with some of the work I’ve created.
I am thankful for the incredible lighting and modifiers that Elinchrom has to offer.

My go-to setup.

My go-to setup right now is an ELC 500 with the Rotalux Octa 100 Softbox. I genuinely love that modifier. I can create beautiful, soft light with the double diffusion, or dramatic light with some character when you take the diffusion off.
It’s so versatile, I love it!

How TikTok continued to build my creativity.

I jumped on the TikTok bandwagon to entertain myself while staying at home during the pandemic.
I noticed how quickly the platform was growing and had the idea to start utilizing it as another place to share my work. It eventually grew into me creating short educational videos. Because of the video format, it feels more genuine as well. It was a great way for me to continue creating and stay motivated on “work” during the quarantine.

It’s an incredible platform to organically grow your audience and show your work to new people. I have more than 12k followers within four months and I’ve grown my Instagram following by almost 50% as well.

My biggest advice.

A quote I came across recently really resonated with me:

“If you are happy doing what you are doing,
then nobody can tell you, you aren’t successful.”

Confidence takes time to form. This has been the biggest battle for me for a while— and still is at times! But lack of confidence stands in the way of your worth, your motivation, and ultimately your growth.

Find a community of supportive creatives, share your work, get critiqued, educate yourself, and don’t compare your photography journey to others.