{"id":37027,"date":"2017-01-11T00:20:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T04:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=37027"},"modified":"2018-12-02T12:32:27","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T16:32:27","slug":"size-and-placement-of-studio-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/size-and-placement-of-studio-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"The size and placement of studio lights"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How the size and placement of studio\u00a0lights affect the photos<\/h1>\n

Mateos, a model & fitness trainer, in the studio. More than just a fitness photograph (via dramatic light to show off his physique), I wanted these to be portraits as well of this athlete. With fitness photography, the approach is usually to have\u00a0photos where you \u00a0show detail and contouring. This is usually\u00a0done with more contrasty light – small light sources at an angle to your subject.<\/p>\n

To get the rim-lighting shown here, there was the typical setup of two gridded stripboxes to the side and behind Mateos. Pretty standard for this kind of photo where you need to show detail and contouring.<\/p>\n

The difference between these two photos then, is due\u00a0to\u00a0the difference in the position and size of the main light:<\/p>\n

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These are the two pull-back shots to show the lighting setup.\u00a0My friend Yasmeen\u00a0and I were shooting for Mateos’\u00a0portfolio. Yasmeen is a Fitness photographer in NJ<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0That’s her on the ladder. She’s …. not as tall as I am. But I digress. The lighting setup!<\/p>\n

As you can see from the pull-back shots, we had two different\u00a0main lights –\u00a0different sizes at\u00a0different distances. The reason why we set up the lights like this, was so that we could a different look without interrupting the flow of the shoot. We could just switch the one light off, and the other one on … or, we could even have had the large light act as a soft fill light, had we chosen to do so. Much more elegant than changing the lighting setup between sets. We get to keep the rhythm.<\/p>\n

These two photos\u00a0will also somewhat serve\u00a0as examples of:
\n– the larger the light source, the softer the light.
\n– the inverse square law.<\/p>\n

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Both photos at the top were taken at: \u00a0\u00a01\/160 \u00a0@ \u00a0f\/11 \u00a0@ \u00a0100 ISO
\nThis obviously means both lights were set to the same exposure … yet the background is brighter in the photo with the larger light source. That the background is brighter has nothing to do with the size of the light-source, but has to do with the distance from the background. For the same exposure, the light that is set further back, will give a brighter background. This is the effect of the Inverse Square Law. We discussed the topic of\u00a0Bounce flash photography & The Inverse Square Law<\/a>\u00a0in that previous article. It’s the same reasoning why the background here appears brighter.<\/p>\n

At the same time, you can readily see the difference in\u00a0how\u00a0the light from the larger light source wraps him to create softer shadows. You can see it specifically in the shadow under his arm. In other words,\u00a0the larger light source gives softer light \/\u00a0less contrast.<\/p>\n

The lighting setup was fairly straight-forward – two\u00a0gridded\u00a0Profoto 1\u2019\u00d73\u2019 softboxes<\/a>\u00a0on either side of Mateos to help with the definition, and simultaneously help separate him from the darker background.<\/p>\n

The main light in the second\u00a0image was the\u00a0large\u00a0Profoto 5.0<\/a>\u2019<\/a>\u00a0RFi Octa Softbox<\/a>\u00a0on a\u00a0studio boom arm by Redwing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the first\u00a0setup, the main light was the honeycombed\u00a0Profoto beauty dish<\/a>. The result is a lot more contrast in the photo – more drama! Just perfect for this kind of shoot.<\/p>\n

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Photo gear and lighting\u00a0used during this photo session<\/h2>\n