erichlund
03-20-2006, 01:07 PM
I took a course at the local Calumet Photography store on Professional Studio Lighting. Very interesting stuff. Not that I will use it very often, but since you can rent the equipment very cheap, I may do something for my In-laws 50th Anniversary.
In addition to the usual stuff like safety, types of equipment, why certain types are better than others and the like, we covered how to set up a shot with from 1 to 4 lights.
The camera/lens set used for the class was a Canon 1Ds MkII and the 85mm f1.2. The 12 students ranged from pros wanting to move into studio work, and even some already in studio, to amateurs that got drafted to do something, to a few like myself that were just there to soak up information.
You can get a saleable portrait shot with a single light and a good large softbox (we used a 52" hexagonal). Set the subject about 6' in front of the background, with the camera about 8' in front of the subject (depending on desired framing and what lens you are using, this may vary). The softbox is set perpendicular to the axis of the light (feathered), with the subject at the back edge of the light. The light is just out of frame. This actually results in a photo that is much more dramatic than you get with the typical 4 light setup (main light, fill, background and hair). But, it may not be to Aunt Betty's taste. I suspect expectation plays a big role in what people want from a portrait, hence the "Olan Mills" look.
On a two light system, it is much more important to light the background than to fill or provide a hairlight. Lighting the background provides a 3d effect, separating your subject from the background. This is more important in a setup where your main is from the front of the subject (about 30 degrees off center), because that light spills to the background and can cause shadows as well as flattening the image. You can always fill with a reflector.
A three light setup typically is a main, fill and background. This really starts to look like the "Olan Mills" setup, and the subject is very evenly lit. Most people going to get a portrait are typically looking for the evenly lit look. As an alternative, you can do the poor man's 4 light setup, Using three lights, Main, hair, background, and using a reflector for fill. The problem with reflectors is that while we could control the lights to 1/10 stop, a reflector is much less precise.
The 4 light setup IS the typical "Olan Mills" setup, with main, fill, background and hair. It's obviously also the most expensive setup.
Your main light is typically set at least 1/2 stop stronger than your other lights. Shutter speed is divorced from your lights. We were mostly running 1/125 second, as that will stop most any studio motion and eliminate most ambient light from the equation. We were also using mostly f/11 to give a satisfactory depth of field. You meter your lights to the aperture you wish to shoot. Note: it's not easy to light for a very wide aperture, because you have to set the lights at very low power.
We were also shown two ways to do high key lighting, a portable rig with a translucent white screen and two lights, and a studio setup with a white paper background and a full 4 light setup.
The portable rig used a light set for f22 from behind the frame, and the main light was set for the camera's f11. This resulted in a background that is completely void of detail. In the studio setup, all the lights are set evenly at f11, but since the other lights are as powerful as the main, the background is again displayed totally without detail.
In addition to the usual stuff like safety, types of equipment, why certain types are better than others and the like, we covered how to set up a shot with from 1 to 4 lights.
The camera/lens set used for the class was a Canon 1Ds MkII and the 85mm f1.2. The 12 students ranged from pros wanting to move into studio work, and even some already in studio, to amateurs that got drafted to do something, to a few like myself that were just there to soak up information.
You can get a saleable portrait shot with a single light and a good large softbox (we used a 52" hexagonal). Set the subject about 6' in front of the background, with the camera about 8' in front of the subject (depending on desired framing and what lens you are using, this may vary). The softbox is set perpendicular to the axis of the light (feathered), with the subject at the back edge of the light. The light is just out of frame. This actually results in a photo that is much more dramatic than you get with the typical 4 light setup (main light, fill, background and hair). But, it may not be to Aunt Betty's taste. I suspect expectation plays a big role in what people want from a portrait, hence the "Olan Mills" look.
On a two light system, it is much more important to light the background than to fill or provide a hairlight. Lighting the background provides a 3d effect, separating your subject from the background. This is more important in a setup where your main is from the front of the subject (about 30 degrees off center), because that light spills to the background and can cause shadows as well as flattening the image. You can always fill with a reflector.
A three light setup typically is a main, fill and background. This really starts to look like the "Olan Mills" setup, and the subject is very evenly lit. Most people going to get a portrait are typically looking for the evenly lit look. As an alternative, you can do the poor man's 4 light setup, Using three lights, Main, hair, background, and using a reflector for fill. The problem with reflectors is that while we could control the lights to 1/10 stop, a reflector is much less precise.
The 4 light setup IS the typical "Olan Mills" setup, with main, fill, background and hair. It's obviously also the most expensive setup.
Your main light is typically set at least 1/2 stop stronger than your other lights. Shutter speed is divorced from your lights. We were mostly running 1/125 second, as that will stop most any studio motion and eliminate most ambient light from the equation. We were also using mostly f/11 to give a satisfactory depth of field. You meter your lights to the aperture you wish to shoot. Note: it's not easy to light for a very wide aperture, because you have to set the lights at very low power.
We were also shown two ways to do high key lighting, a portable rig with a translucent white screen and two lights, and a studio setup with a white paper background and a full 4 light setup.
The portable rig used a light set for f22 from behind the frame, and the main light was set for the camera's f11. This resulted in a background that is completely void of detail. In the studio setup, all the lights are set evenly at f11, but since the other lights are as powerful as the main, the background is again displayed totally without detail.