Home Studio 3
By Barry Graham
You remember I started article one with the words, "I expect the first thing you were expecting to see were lots of diagrams, with lines and squiggles showing where the lights, reflectors and all the other paraphernalia involved in a working studio. Well sorry to disappoint, but this the 'Easy Peasy Home Studio' remember."
Ok it's hands up time. Did you notice that this months title is just
"Home Studio"? Not time yet for diagrams,
squiggles
and lines, but and this is a big but, you can take stunning pictures with a
single light.
True with only one light you will need reflectors and a good idea of using a flash meter and an understanding of how the light will reflect around the room you use. Once mastered though you will be turning out work you can sell.
Obviously the lighting you choose to use will depend very much on the
type of picture you wish to take. Dark and
moody,
bright and sparkly, or just good honest well lit glamour. Regardless of style
remember the subject. You are photographing the model, to be seen by the viewer.
Whether it is in your face, or coy and shy, the subject must be seen. So
when you have decided where you want the model to pose set up your single light
off to one side and make that side your chosen light source. Now using the flash
meter check the light all around the models person and also the surrounding
area.
Do you want the models curves and dips to be highlighted? Do you want fairly even lighting across the whole subject with a small amount of modelling effect? With one light the more brightness you require around the scene the more work your reflectors will need to do. They work just like lights, the closer they are the more light they throw and the further away equals less.
Remember what you are creating is fantasy. To you and any other on
lookers the scene will probably look like something out of a war zone. So much
stuff crowding in on your model, yet the camera sees this serene beautiful
model
posed just as you asked. One golden rule, always look around the viewfinder to
make sure there are no stray bits and pieces intruding into the
picture.
With what I have told you over the three articles you certainly have enough information now to turn out stunning work in your living room. Once I had a new model coming around for a shoot and unfortunately all my lighting equipment had been impounded by customs at Dover. I knew it would be at least three days before I got it back so I had to improvise with what I had in my camera equipment case.
I had two tripods and three flash guns. The flash guns were all of
varying degrees of power and I had two small slave units, but cable would have
done just as well. I set my most powerful flash on a tripod as my main light.
The 
second
flash I placed on the opposite side as a fill light and the smallest (and very
cheap) flash I put on the camera. This one I covered with a handkerchief. I had
my flash meter and checked out the scene I had set. I needed some reflected
light so it came down to a white sheet held with clothes pegs. It was very
expensive in batteries, but very worthwhile.
Yes the model was not at all impressed, but the pictures produced soon changed her mind. So please don't think that just because you want to take model pictures indoors you need the full Bowens kit. Providing you use flash you'll find you can achieve great results, you really can.
Next month I'll show you what to expect when you hire a studio