Last week I had my first real session in a studio. I described it briefly in my blog entry. My goal was to become familiar with the studio lighting, and to experiment with different heads on the flash units.

The studio has a very large white backdrop, and several flash units with all of the normal types of flash heads.

So my questions are:

1. What would you recommend as a good studio setup to start with? It should be simple rather than artistic


2. How do you get the correct exposure for the subject? I found this was a bit hit-and-miss, because I was not sure if I should be changing my aperture values or changing the flash units.


3. Can you recommend any good online tutorials?


4. One of the biggest differences between studio photography and my normal camera-only photography is the inability to store and read information about the flash setup in the raw files. So I found myself recording this using pen and paper. Is there a better way?

Thanks,

M.

Last week I had my first real session in a studio. I described it briefly in my blog entry. My goal was to become familiar with the studio lighting, and to experiment with different heads on the flash units.

The studio has a very large white backdrop, and several flash units with all of the normal types of flash heads.

So my questions are:

1. What would you recommend as a good studio setup to start with? It should be simple rather than artistic


2. How do you get the correct exposure for the subject? I found this was a bit hit-and-miss, because I was not sure if I should be changing my aperture values or changing the flash units.


3. Can you recommend any good online tutorials?


4. One of the biggest differences between studio photography and my normal camera-only photography is the inability to store and read information about the flash setup in the raw files. So I found myself recording this using pen and paper. Is there a better way?

Thanks,

M.

oh this is a very big subject to cover,

not knowing the set up of the studio and the number of lights,

from what you said the studio has a white background, so you have a couple options, depending on the number of lights,

1st you could shoot your model without lighting the background, this will deliver the background grey, depending on how far the model and main lights are from the background,

option 2 would be to light the background with separate lights, if available softboxes work best as they can deliver a more even light, i find in my studio if i use this set up i usually light the background one stop more than effective light on the model, eg. if the reading for the model is F8 then the lighting on the background in my studio would be F11.

lighting the model really depends on what feel you want to achieve from your pics. to get decent result you can use the tried and tested set up of 2 lights, set at 45 degrees to the models left and right side, with the second fill light a stop less than the main light setting. eg, if the main light was on the models left and was reading F8, the fill light on the right would be set to deliver F5.6, with this setup you will achieve abit of shadow modelling on your model. play around with the difference in the F stops to see the different effect as this can make a big difference to the shots.

get a flash meter and check the difference between the lights output, then you can set the aperture correctly (correctly can be very sudjective)!!

to achieve the difference in apertures and lights really depends in the lights you are using, the newer type can be regulated in 1/10th's of a stop, mine goes from full power to 1/32 and the oldest flashheads maybe limited to full and 1/2 power. with the newer type you can keep the lights the same distance from the model and just regulate them to give the desired output, the older type may need you to move the lights to a different distance from the model.

I'm not sure if there is a better way of recording the lighting data, though the camera should tell you what you shot the image at, then you have to see whether the image worked or not.

the only way to learn is to spend time in the studio and trying different lighting techniques, its a learning curve, though when you get a handle on it and the model has an idea of a shot, you can listen and then setup the lighting easily. one other thing i found that helped me was to really look at other peoples work and try to guess the light setup, looking in the eyes for tell tale signs and also were the shadows fall and the highlights are.

bet your bored now, lol

this is only a very short look at the amazing art of lighting a subject, when it all comes together you will get fab pictures, i hope it happens soon for me

 tim

Digital Portrait Photography and Lighting: Take Memorable Shots Every Time





by Catherine Jamieson

Best book I have seen on the topic. Covers just about every aspect of photographing people in a studio, and outside. Don't let the "digital" in the toitle put you off, it's equally useful for film shooters. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

P

Hi Tim - thanks for the post! I was not at all bored by the end of it!

I appreciate that it is a big subject to cover. I am aware that there is plenty of material available which covers the subject, but I have not been able to find anything simple enough for a complete studio beginner.

Yes, the studio is very well equipped. It has more flashes than I need I decided to go with the white backdrop because I thought that it would be the easiest starting point.

Why is one flash setup to deliver more light than the other? Why not both equally? I think the answer must be related to wanting some shadow on the subject.

The flashes that I am using are like this.

Yes, I image that the best way to learn is to practice I just want to be sure I am starting to practice doing something that is achievable for a beginner

P - thanks for the book reference. I will check that.

M.

Just realised the Amazon link didn't work, so here goes again

http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/0471781282/ref=s9_asin_image_1-2259_p/202-6273932-0619868?pf_rd_m =A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1RAN0BFXZQ0PYDDREN16&p f_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=139042191&pf_rd_i=468294

Photographing People: Portraits, Fashion, Glamour (Revised Edition): Portraits, Fashion, Glamour  is a 
very different book. Some nice photos with lighting diagrams and brief explanations, but I also found it worthwhile.  Amazon link is http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photographing-People-Portraits-Fashion-Glamour/dp/294037807X/ref=pd_bowt ega_1/202-6273932-0619868?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184621081&sr=1-1

Some very quick answers to your very good questions.

1. Forget about using more than one light when your starting out. Learn to master a single light first (using reflectors if necessary). If you can do that, then you can gradually add additional lights when you feel you need them. If you can't light with one light source, then you're going to struggle with more than one. Let the shadows on your subject guide you to achieving the correct lighting.

2. Correct exposure is best achieved using a flash meter, although it is possible to do it using the histogram (some people swear by this method, but I prefer a separate flash meter myself).

3. Far too many to mention, but it would be worth checking on photo.net and I've always enjoyed coming back to one of the longest threads I've ever come across on the internet here (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/144181) It started in Oct 2004 and now stands at 271 pages, the most recent post being on 11 July last.

4. Pen and paper is the best way to be honest, although I frequently use a digital voice recorder if I'm doing something like this; then I can save the voice files in the same folder as the images and keep everything together. 

Regards,

Thorsten. 

Of course the issue with using the histogram with RAW is that it's based on the converted JPEG using the in camera settings. This may in fact be wrong for the RAW.

The one thing about learning to meter is that you can set the lights exactly the same every time. If you have more than one light (or even a reflector), being able to measure the light coming from each will guarantee repeatable setups.

P, Thorsten, Sean, and Jim - thanks for the responses.

My next step will be to go back to the studio and experiment with different setups. I think that I will start with one light source as you suggested Thorsten, and I will learn to use the flash meter.

I am a methodical type of person, and I really like to understand why things behave in the way that they do. I hope that this does not hinder me too much!

Jim, thanks for the DVD offer. I will take you up on this offer, but at a later stage when I have had some more experience. Or maybe I will meet you in person if I ever manage to go north to the organised gatherings!

I will keep posting my learning experiences to the website.

M.

I doubt that it will hinder you at all. Once you understand how/why something works, you'll be much better equipped with the necessary tools to solve a particular problem. Certainly better equipped than someone who has learned by copying someone else and committing it to memory. Throw a little obstacle in their path and they probably won't be able to sort it out because it's not what they learned to do   

Great idea - you'd certainly be helping lot's of other people out too in the process!