Studio Photography Basics

Workshopon

Studio Photography

BySuvajit

[email protected] July 2010

Bangalore

Topics

• Principles of Artificial Lighting• Basic Studio Lighting• Portrait lighting• Studio lighting and Exposure

Principles of artificial lighting

• Why use artificial light?– Lack of adequate natural light– Take control of the light– Make a photograph; don’t just take it.

• Shooting with artificial light is like:

“Sculpting with LIGHT”

Basic goal of artificial lighting

• Bring out the 3D quality of the subject(s)

By reproducing the highlights and shadows as produced under natural light

By revealing surface textures

Basic Studio Lighting

• Categories of studio light• Basic four light setup• Studio lighting tools

Categories of studio light

• Continuous+ Cheap

+ See what the light is doing - Produces more heat than light - Not balanced to daylight• Flash

+ Balanced to daylight (5500K)+ Saves power

Basic four light setupKey Light(M)The main light source/ brightest light sourceFill light (F)Soften the shadows formed by Key lightBackground light(B1)Lights background and not the subjectAccent lights(H, B2)Adds a rim light to separate subject from background.Also called “kicker light”

Steps in preparing lighting setup

1. Decide on general effect

visualize; determine type/direction/angle of light

2. Add the key light(s)

- create dominant set of highlight & shadows

3. Place the fill lights- Adjust light ratio to obtain desired effect

4. Separate subject from

background - Add background light - Add kicker light (optional) - Subject should not be close to

background (min 5 feet) - Lights should not add to any

secondary highlight or shadows

5. Make final adjustments - take sample shot, analyze and

readjust - look out for unwanted

highlights/shadows, catchlights

Studio equipments

• Light Source – Studio lights– Tripods/Stands– Triggers

• Light Modifiers– Diffusers• Umbrella• Soft Box (normal, strip,

octabox)

– Deflectors• Reflectors• Snoot• Grid• Barn door

– Color gels• Light meter• Accessories– Backdrop– Props

Portrait lighting

• Rembrandt• Loop• Butterfly• Split• Broad • Short

Rembrandt lighting

Source : http://tips.romanzolin.com

Loop lighting

Source : http://tips.romanzolin.com

Butterfly lighting

Source : http://tips.romanzolin.com

Split lighting

Source : http://tips.romanzolin.com

Broad lighting

Source : http://tips.romanzolin.com

Short lighting

Source : http://tips.romanzolin.com

Exposure in studio lighting

• Shutter speed in camera has no control on exposure as your camera cannot shoot faster than your camera SYNC speed, it is 1/200.

• Exposure can be controlled by :1. The power of the light2. Aperture of the lens3. ISO setting

How to control studio light power

• Controls on Light system ( Full, ½, ¼, 1/8 )• Distance of light from subject. – Inverse Square Law applies here ( so if you move your

subject from 3 feet away to 6 feet away, your light power will reduce by 4 times or you will need four times more light)

Aperture and f stops

• For aperture control under studio lights, same principle applies.

Exposure halves by increase in each f-stop f/8, Full power @ ISO 200 will give

same exposure as f/5.6, ½ power @ ISO 200

The full f stops are2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22

References

• www.studiolighting.net• www.strobist.com