{"id":33905,"date":"2016-07-03T15:19:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-03T19:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=33905"},"modified":"2020-08-17T00:05:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T04:05:13","slug":"studio-photography-lighting-tips-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/studio-photography-lighting-tips-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Studio photography lighting tips – your first time in the studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Studio photography lighting tips – your first time in the studio<\/h1>\n

Since I make my studio here in NJ available as a\u00a0Photo studio rental space<\/a>, I frequently meet newer photographers who would like to dabble in studio photography a bit, but don’t have much experience of working in a studio.\u00a0Sometimes they have experience with off-camera flash on location, or with a small home studio – and they would like to try out working in a larger studio area, using a range of studio lighting gear. (Btw, aside from some continuous lighting, the studio flashes are all Profoto. There\u00a0are\u00a0reasons for this<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

With their first time in the studio, the newer photographer might be a little overwhelmed with all the choice – where to even start!? My suggestion is always to start with very simple lighting. You can achieve a lot without going all the way and using five studio heads with five different light modifiers.<\/p>\n

With a\u00a0fairly straight-forward way of working with studio lights, here are my tips for your first time in the studio. It shouldn’t be overwhelming – it should be stress-free fun instead!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tips\u00a0for\u00a0your first time in a photography\u00a0studio<\/h2>\n

1.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Start with one light.<\/strong> From there, you can eventually add a fill light, or a hair light, or maybe just a reflector to the one side. Really, keep it simple. Don’t just randomly add more lights – from your test images, figure out what you need to add, or what you need to take away. Until you have the confidence, and can swagger a bit in the studio, make simplicity<\/strong> the key to successful portraits in the studio.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 \u00a0Use the modeling lights<\/strong> – because what you see with the house-lights on in the studio (as in the pull-back shot shown below), is NOT what you’re going to get in camera when the studio lights fire. The modeling lights will help you previsualise your photos, and help you in positioning your lights –\u00a0and posing your model.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Your first decision about light modifiers<\/strong> will hinge around whether you want a large light source giving you softer light, or a smaller light source giving you more contrasty light. There are options with either of those two choices, but broadly speaking these are your two main choices – softer light vs more contrasty light.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples:
\n\u2022 \u00a0Using the beauty dish as a single light source<\/a>\u00a0– the beauty dish will generally give more contrasty light.
\n\u2022 \u00a0Lingerie photo shoot<\/a>\u00a0with Carly Erin. Here we used a 7′ parabolic umbrella, and you can see the light is flattering and soft,\u00a0but shooting with the light at an angle, let us sculpt her body with the light, instead of just giving flat light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Camera settings!<\/strong> This is where the newer photographer in the studio sometimes becomes stuck. Again though, this is not scary. Photographers that shoot on location, will have the idea imprinted that you have to meter for the available light. If you use off-camera lighting outdoors, you invariably take the ambient light into account. However, when you shoot in the studio, you don’t. That’s the primary difference. In the studio, you<\/strong> decide what your camera and flash settings are. You don’t even meter for the ambient light in the studio, since this is usually negligible.<\/p>\n

You<\/strong> have to make the decision. You want f\/8 as your aperture? Then choose f\/8 and change the power of your light (or the position of your light), to give you f\/8 at the appropriate ISO setting. Usually you will be shooting at 100 ISO or 200 ISO in the studio. If you shoot in a studio where you use speed lights, you might want to be at 400 ISO. It all depends on what you have. But ultimately, you decide on your camera settings. As simple as that. What do you<\/strong> need?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>This brings us to the next step – using a light meter<\/strong> in the studio. It’s dead simple. You stand where your model will stand, and point the light-meter at the light, and trigger the light with the remote trigger. Then you change the flash output (or distance), until you get to your chosen camera settings. And your camera settings are? \u00a0(Hint: whatever you decide on.)<\/p>\n

Here are some useful articles:
\n\u2022 \u00a0A first-steps guide to using a light meter with manual flash<\/a>\u00a0– even though this is for off-camera flash when shooting on-location, much of the thought-process is the same. The only difference is that in the studio we don’t take ambient exposure into account first.
\n\u2022 Of course, if you don’t have a light-meter, you could always\u00a0use the histogram to determine exposure<\/a>\u00a0for basic lighting setups. This will help you get to a starting point as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 \u00a0Move your lights<\/strong> around between sequences for variety.
\nEven a small change in the light’s position can make a difference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Posing and lighting are inter-connected<\/strong>. Especially if you use smaller light sources, you have to guide your model in how to pose towards the light. Your models can be more free in their movement if the light source is huge – however, with smaller light sources, their pose or movement has to be done with consideration of the light’s position.In the example photo, Alex’s head was turned towards the light with specific intent – so that we can see his features.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

That’s it! It is that\u00a0uncomplicated to start shooting in the studio. Of course, as with pretty much any field of photography, there’s a never-ending learning curve from that point onwards. But that’s part of our adventure.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to learn more about how to work in a studio, I offer\u00a0Studio Lighting Workshops<\/a>\u00a0too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t

This photo is a good example of a very simple lighting setup that gives beautiful dramatic light — just one studio head with a light modifier, and a V-flat as a reflector. Dead simple.\u00a0The single light source was a\u00a0Profoto D1 500 Ws flash<\/a>\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>), with a\u00a0Profoto\u00a01\u2019x6\u2019\u00a0gridded strip-box<\/a>\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

I rotated the stripbox to simultaneously light Alex and the background here. The 1×6 stripbox is large, but the egg-crate grids make the light very tightly controllable, creating that light fall-off. Instead of blasting light all over the studio, there’s now more specific control.<\/p>\n

Camera settings\u00a0and photo\u00a0gear used<\/h2>\n