Transcript
Intro to Studio Lighting
Welcome Instructor: Robert Stratton Photography business owner since 2007, hobby photographer since 1997.
Equipment Overview Techy stuff you’ll spend your $$ on.
Equipment - Light Sources ● Continuous, Ambient, or Natural Light ○ Lights that are continuously illuminated - no flash
● Speed Gun, Speed Light, or Flash ○ Flashes you can attach to your camera
● Monolight, Studio Light ○ Lights on stands that have their own power supply ○ More power than speed light
Equipment - Modifiers ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Umbrella / Softbox Beauty dish Grid Snoot Barn doors Gels Reflectors ...
Equipment - Triggers ● ● ● ●
Hard Wired Commander / Flash Controlled / Optical Slave IR Trigger Radio Trigger ● Laser / IR / Sensor Trap
Equipment - Other ● Reflector ● Light Meter ● Sand Bags
Light and Shadow What is this stuff anyway?
What is Light? Dfn: The natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. A dynamic tool which we use to create art.
Different Light, Different Characteristics! Directionality ● ● ● ●
Ambient Direct Specular Dappled
Color / Saturation ● ●
Warm Cool
Intensity / Hardness ● ● ● ●
Hard Soft Bright Dull
What About Shadow? Can be thought of as absence of light. Shadow wouldn’t exist without light, as light creates shadow. Has some similar characteristics as light! ● Color / Saturation ● Intensity / Hardness
Directionality ● Ambient / Indirect - The naturally available diffused light. What allows you to see. ●
Direct - Light coming from a particular source falling directly on your subject. May or may not diffused, but is definitely coming from a particular direction. Flash, Window, Street Light. etc.
Directionality
Continued
● Specular - Very bright intense light being reflected off a surface. The highlights coming off windows, water, or anything that is shiny.
● Dappled - Soft chunky light that glitters through trees, fences, or other mediums.
Color of Light (and Shadow) Color can be affected by many different things: 1. Light Source ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Sun Clouds Shadow Indoor Lights Gels
(Warm) (Cool) (Cooler) (Tungsten, Fluorescent, LED) (Used creatively / Balance a light source, i.e. CTO)
Color of Light (and Shadow) Continued Color can be affected by many different things: 2. Reflection - Color Casts ○ ○ ○
Grass / Trees Paint / Surface Materials Water
Intensity of Light ● Type of Modifier can Affect Intensity ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Umbrella SoftBox Reflector Dish Beauty Dish Bare Bulb
● Relative Size of Light Source to Subject ○ ○ ○
Larger Light = Softer Light Closer Light = Larger Light Closer Light = Brighter Light
Intensity of Light
Continued
● Distance of Light from Subject ○ ○ ○
Closer = Softer Closer = Brighter Closer = More light fall off
● INVERSE SQUARE LAW ○ ○ ○
Double your distance = Increase Aperture by 2 F-Stops Half your distance = Decrease Aperture by 2 F-Stops As you increase / decrease distance, the rate of light fall off decreases or increases.
Using Light (and Shadow) Peek-a-boo
Why do we Use Light? Light is used along with shadow to: ● Create depth ● Flatter or enhance a person’s figure ○
Posing females / males
● Show (or hide) detail / texture ● Create mood ● Separate subject from background
Why do we Use Light?
Continued
Light is used along with shadow to: ● Direct viewer’s eye ○
Eye is drawn toward brighter areas
● Balance a frame / scene ● Tell a story ● Stop motion (flash) or create motion (constant lights)
Studio Lighting The fun stuff!
What is Studio Lighting? ● Literally, is light produced in a studio; however, it means much more. ● It’s controlled, usually artificial, lighting. ● It’s creative lighting. ● It’s YOUR lighting.
What is Studio Lighting?
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● Usually, it is off-camera lighting ○ ○ ○
Off camera lighting creates depth Off camera lighting gives control Off camera lighting gives you an edge
● Can be one or more lights ○ ○ ○ ○
Key light / Main light Fill light Hair / Rim light Background light
● Should only be what you need
Studio Lighting Concepts ● Master / Slave lights (One Trigger) ○ Master light gets the trigger ○ Slaves are fired by the flash of other flashes ○ If supported, you can trigger all with your camera (common with speed-lights)
● Key light is usually your master ● Other lights are slaves
Studio Lighting Concepts
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● Modelling light is a tool to help you visualize the light, not used for exposure. ●
Inverse Square Law (Simplified) ○ Every time you double the distance between the subject and the light, you will need 2 F-stops of light. (i.e. If you’re shooting at F5.6 and your light is 3ft from subject, the moving the light to 6ft you’ ll require F2.8 to get the same exposure.
Studio Light Concepts
Continued
● Angle of incidence (those pesky glasses) ● Feathering light to soften it ○
Flash plus reflector can give a 2 light look
● Flash will cause shadow - position subject so shadow doesn’t fall on background ● Try to match light color and temperature
Inverse Square Law (Diagram)
Camera Control To Major Tom?
Camera Control - Sync Speed ● Sync Speed - The maximum speed in which your shutter is 100% open. ○ When using flash, this is the maximum speed in which you can take a picture without capturing your shutter in the picture. ■ There are exceptions (HSS, Leaf Shutter) ○ Within your sync speed is where the magic happens.
Camera Control - A vs. S (vs. I) The following holds true while using flash below your sync speed limit: ● Best to shoot in manual mode! ● Aperture controls you FLASH exposure ○ Caveat: Ambient can overpower flash
● Shutter controls your AMBIENT exposure ● ISO still controls both
Camera Control - Choosing Settings When choosing your exposure, consider: ● Depth of Field ● Light Fall-off (or onto background) ● How much ambient light do you want
Lunch! Om nom nom nom Back at 1PM!
Inverse Square / Hardness Demo
Rembrandt Lighting Characteristics: ● 45 degrees between camera and light ● Light facing downward 45 degrees ● Looking for triangle of light below the opposite eye. ● Can also add fill from opposite side
Butterfly / Beauty Lighting Characteristics: ● Light directly above camera ● Light facing downward 45-60 degrees ● Looking for small butterfly shaped shadow below nose ● Can fill below face to lessen shadows (called clam-shell lighting)
Split Lighting Characteristics: ● 90 degrees between camera and light ● Light about level with subject ● Hard shadow splitting in centre of the face
Short Lighting vs. Broad Lighting Short Lighting - Light the mask of the face, camera side is in shadow. (Females) Broad Lighting - Light the camera side of the face, mask is in shadow. (Males)
Loop Lighting (bonus) Characteristics: ● Similar to Rembrandt except shadow is small outline of nose (triangle is opened up) ● About 20-30 degrees between light and camera ● Light directed downward about 10 degrees (just above eye level) ● Small shadow outlining nose
Loop Lighting Example Notice the shadow from her nose on the left side of Jill’s face.
F-Stop Diagram
F-Stop Diagram
