Learning about Lighting
Nov. 4th, 2012 11:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
major_clangerMost of my photography has been outdoor work, although I did do a wedding a couple of years ago that included some flash work. However, I've often admired the results you can get with a proper studio lighting setup, so yesterday I took the chance to go on a course aimed at introducing amateur photographers to the basics of studio lighting.
After following directions that took me through a Deptford industrial estate that looked like nothing so much as a location shoot for The Sweeney I found a converted factory unit with a well-equipped studio. Our instructor, Andy, welcomed me - I was the first to arrive - and we had a quick chat about my photo experience and what I wanted to learn. Five other students turned up (two women, three men) and our model, so we set to work.
Our model was Barbara, an aspiring actress, who was very pleasant and patient as we went through a range of lighting setups and took turns for each one photographing her. My photos below don't really do her justice in that I've mostly picked ones with her in a similar pose so as to highlight the effect of different lighting styles, but she was very good at posing for different looks and styles; she mentioned over lunch that she'd been modelling for several years now. (She kindly agreed that we could put pictures of her online for those of us who wanted to have a portfolio of work.) One of the aims of the course was to teach how to work not just with studio equipment but with a model, and Andy was very keen that we remember that a model is not a prop. He half-jokingly commented that he operated a three strikes rule regarding talking to the model: the first two times we photographed Barbara without talking to her we'd get a reminder, but the third time we'd be out the door.
The studio had a number of backdrops; these are like pull-down projection screens, except much longer in that you have a couple of metres flat on the floor so as to give a smooth background to photos. We started with white, then moved on to black and finally grey, all with various lighting options.
We began with a white background. The first shot is using a single softbox (i.e. a light with a large fabric diffuser in front) off to the front left from the camera's perspective; this is a simple and straightforward lighting setup. Andy took us through how to use an exposure meter to adjust the flash power, the idea being to set up for correct exposure at an aperture of typically f/8, this being where most lenses perform best. For the second photo, the main light is now at front right, with a front left light at about 3 stops lower exposure (i.e. 1/8 the power) to fill in the light a bit. This is again a much-used style of lighting, especially for face-on portraits. Finally, the third photo shows so-called 'broad' lighting, which works well if the subject has a narrow face.
All these lighting techniques tend to flatten the face, but sometimes you want to accentuate its shape. The leftmost photo is with a single light almost above the camera, using a more focussed reflector (a 'beauty dish') rather than a softbox. You can see how this brings out Barbara's cheekbones, but it also makes for strong shadows under the chin, nose and eyebrows. If you want to reduce these, one option, as per the middle picture, is to have a reflector under below and to the front of the model. Another, in the right-hand picture, is to use a second light with a softbox from below and the front, which flattens the face a bit whilst still having enough shadow to bring out shape.
We then tried a lighting technique I've been trying (with little success) to make work using only camera flash: a very bright white background. This is done by using two lights to the side of the model aimed at the backdrop, set up to illuminate it at about one and a half stops (say three times) overexposure compared to the light on the model. This gives you a background that is so bright it burns out to white, but not quite so bright it spills over onto the model. I've not retouched or edited this image at all: the background had just come out as pure white.
That was white backgrounds, so we went on to black.
The first image is lit from front left with a softbox; the black background is dark enough and far enough behind Barbara that it disappears. If you want to totally isolate your subject that works well, but it can look a bit odd, and it tends to lose your model's hair. So we then added a pair of light to each side slightly behind Barbara, but this time pointing forward to illuminate her from behind. The second picture shows the very dramatic change this results in. Finally, the last picture shows the use of a spotlight aimed at the backdrop, which lifts it from black to dark grey just enough that you avoid the 'hanging in blackness' effect of the first picture.
Lighting from behind also gives you more options with hair!
So that was white and black backgrounds; what about grey? As Andy demonstrated, you can use grey with different lighting options to give you various gradients. As seen below, we set up the studio with a light illuminating the bottom of the backdrop, then a front softbox to act as main light to Barbara. There is also a spotlight above and behind to light her hair.
This gives the effect below - the first picture doesn't have the hair spotlight, the second does.
We also tried a rather unusual way of getting a bright background if you have a very big soft box: just use it behind your subject, and shoot from between a couple of reflectors bouncing light back onto her.
The first picture shows the setup; the second is the result. It's striking, but Barbara is a little washed-out, so the final picture shows a bit of Photoshop work to slightly darken and saturate her face.
It was a busy day, although we broke for lunch (this unusual diner is just round the corner), and I certainly felt I got my value for money. I now feel happy that I could hire a studio without either wasting most of my time trying to set up the lighting or having no idea what the various bits and pieces do. Commissions gratefully received...
After following directions that took me through a Deptford industrial estate that looked like nothing so much as a location shoot for The Sweeney I found a converted factory unit with a well-equipped studio. Our instructor, Andy, welcomed me - I was the first to arrive - and we had a quick chat about my photo experience and what I wanted to learn. Five other students turned up (two women, three men) and our model, so we set to work.
Our model was Barbara, an aspiring actress, who was very pleasant and patient as we went through a range of lighting setups and took turns for each one photographing her. My photos below don't really do her justice in that I've mostly picked ones with her in a similar pose so as to highlight the effect of different lighting styles, but she was very good at posing for different looks and styles; she mentioned over lunch that she'd been modelling for several years now. (She kindly agreed that we could put pictures of her online for those of us who wanted to have a portfolio of work.) One of the aims of the course was to teach how to work not just with studio equipment but with a model, and Andy was very keen that we remember that a model is not a prop. He half-jokingly commented that he operated a three strikes rule regarding talking to the model: the first two times we photographed Barbara without talking to her we'd get a reminder, but the third time we'd be out the door.
The studio had a number of backdrops; these are like pull-down projection screens, except much longer in that you have a couple of metres flat on the floor so as to give a smooth background to photos. We started with white, then moved on to black and finally grey, all with various lighting options.
We began with a white background. The first shot is using a single softbox (i.e. a light with a large fabric diffuser in front) off to the front left from the camera's perspective; this is a simple and straightforward lighting setup. Andy took us through how to use an exposure meter to adjust the flash power, the idea being to set up for correct exposure at an aperture of typically f/8, this being where most lenses perform best. For the second photo, the main light is now at front right, with a front left light at about 3 stops lower exposure (i.e. 1/8 the power) to fill in the light a bit. This is again a much-used style of lighting, especially for face-on portraits. Finally, the third photo shows so-called 'broad' lighting, which works well if the subject has a narrow face.
All these lighting techniques tend to flatten the face, but sometimes you want to accentuate its shape. The leftmost photo is with a single light almost above the camera, using a more focussed reflector (a 'beauty dish') rather than a softbox. You can see how this brings out Barbara's cheekbones, but it also makes for strong shadows under the chin, nose and eyebrows. If you want to reduce these, one option, as per the middle picture, is to have a reflector under below and to the front of the model. Another, in the right-hand picture, is to use a second light with a softbox from below and the front, which flattens the face a bit whilst still having enough shadow to bring out shape.
We then tried a lighting technique I've been trying (with little success) to make work using only camera flash: a very bright white background. This is done by using two lights to the side of the model aimed at the backdrop, set up to illuminate it at about one and a half stops (say three times) overexposure compared to the light on the model. This gives you a background that is so bright it burns out to white, but not quite so bright it spills over onto the model. I've not retouched or edited this image at all: the background had just come out as pure white.
That was white backgrounds, so we went on to black.
The first image is lit from front left with a softbox; the black background is dark enough and far enough behind Barbara that it disappears. If you want to totally isolate your subject that works well, but it can look a bit odd, and it tends to lose your model's hair. So we then added a pair of light to each side slightly behind Barbara, but this time pointing forward to illuminate her from behind. The second picture shows the very dramatic change this results in. Finally, the last picture shows the use of a spotlight aimed at the backdrop, which lifts it from black to dark grey just enough that you avoid the 'hanging in blackness' effect of the first picture.
Lighting from behind also gives you more options with hair!
So that was white and black backgrounds; what about grey? As Andy demonstrated, you can use grey with different lighting options to give you various gradients. As seen below, we set up the studio with a light illuminating the bottom of the backdrop, then a front softbox to act as main light to Barbara. There is also a spotlight above and behind to light her hair.
This gives the effect below - the first picture doesn't have the hair spotlight, the second does.
We also tried a rather unusual way of getting a bright background if you have a very big soft box: just use it behind your subject, and shoot from between a couple of reflectors bouncing light back onto her.
The first picture shows the setup; the second is the result. It's striking, but Barbara is a little washed-out, so the final picture shows a bit of Photoshop work to slightly darken and saturate her face.
It was a busy day, although we broke for lunch (this unusual diner is just round the corner), and I certainly felt I got my value for money. I now feel happy that I could hire a studio without either wasting most of my time trying to set up the lighting or having no idea what the various bits and pieces do. Commissions gratefully received...
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