Studio lighting what is it for?

Studio Lighting More...

By Paul Tyler

Last month we began an in depth look at studio lighting, or more precisely using artificial lighting in photography. I had a wonderful response to my request for questions and over the next few months will tackle every question we have been asked.

This second article of the series begins with using lights in a small studio, in a small space and how best to deal with the problems this can cause. After that I will deal with Tungsten, florrie and other light forms. If you haven't read last months first article then you should. Click here

I will explain exactly how I use the lights, but what make etc. doesn't matter. What is important is that you understand what the lights do and how you can use that knowledge. I have read many articles going into finite detail about the make of light the exact flash power, duration, etc., etc. The problem for anyone then going into a studio that has different lighting set ups is "Oh god what do I do now?" So as always I will explain exactly what you need to know, but give you that knowledge so you can use it wherever you go and whatever lights they may have.

So what is required?

Firstly you'll need your mainlight, a second light and as this is a studio we can be bold and add a third light for the models hair.


The Models eye view of the main and second light with large soft boxes.

These two pictures show you The three light set up from the photographers point of view. Main light on the right, second light to the left and hairlight centre top.

So to prove a point I held the flash meter centre stage and fired the flash and took a reading. There was no subject when I did this. When the model arrived I asked her to stand centre stage and took a picture at this setting. The picture Here will prove the point. As you can see the lighting is all over the shop and does not work basically. I get a lot of work sent to me by amateurs that look like this. So now you know when you are metering you meter to and for the model. OK yes I agree that most times I meter the floor area while the model is applying her slap and lippy and have the lights set as I want them by the time she is ready. However I have been doing this for awhile and if you are new then take your time and get it right. You will be far better off taking 20 minutes to set the lights and run off 2 rolls of film that are good.

OK so lets do that and set up our lights properly. We are using 3 lights a main light to our right a second light to the left and a third light above the model to light her hair and lift her from the background a little. I took a reading for my main light, just firing that on it's own. I had a reading of f11. I then fired my second light and had a reading of f8. Finally I fired the hair light and had a reading of f8. This is exactly what I wanted to do. One stop between my main light and any other lights I am using to fill. So I set my camera to f11 and fired away making sure the model stayed under the hair light.

Yes it is incredibly simple and doesn't take long to set up and please don't think just because it's simple it cannot be much good. Below are a few of the pictures that were taken with this set up.

So I am happy with these. I promise nothing has been done to them, they have been simply loaded on to the hard drive. No manipulation. So as a beginner if you walked out of the studio with prints like these you would be happy for a first try yes? Follow the simple rules above and you will. God honestly it really is that easy.

Next stage was to make a couple of changes. I added small light with a diffuser to the background and because of space this had to come from the left. There would obviously be overspill so I made my left light my main at f11 and the right light my second at f8. This 4th light is not very clear to see in the picture, but it should give you some idea.

I wanted to see the patterned backdrop behind the model and lift things a little more. So I didn't bother re metering because so many people don't, and this is the result. As you can see the small extra light has made things change. As you can see there is no detail, form or shadow. Basically it's pretty washed out. The overspill from this extra light is too much. So I metered to find that adding that extra light had moved the overall f stop for all the lights firing together to f16. Although individually none was above f11. Starting to get the drift? I moved the model I moved the light, because I know that none of the lights individually are producing more that f11. I was determined not to move my fstop. This second picture still appears washed out and lacking form and shape.

So OK I have had a laugh with you and we all know now that if we fire all the lights and the overall setting is f16 then f16 is what we should be using.

Of course there are 1/2 stops so the left hand picture was at f13 and the right at f16. So we got there in the end, but because I have had to close down I have lost the lighter background which was what I was trying for. Do you see that what you can and cannot do rely on what you have at your disposal. I didn't have a snoot for the 4th light which would have sorted out my problems.

I hope you can see what I have been trying to tell you with this. Keep it simple and you will achieve great results, practice and get good at what you do. When you have time and inclination then start to get tricky and use the lights as many as the Power grid will allow, but do you really need them????

Keep it simple have fun and enjoy your results. I went back to 3 lights and had a wonderful set of pictures to give to the model for her portfolio.

The model I used for this shoot is Mimi and she was wonderful to work with and very patient as I ponced around with the lights for this article. She kindly gave her time on a PFT basis. The pictures are copyright Tyler Web Photography which is my own business.

RETURN

privacy