Light Study

 Here we have a neat scenario involving a combination of natural and strobe light. Say you are shooting natural light portraits but it isn’t giving you quite enough light.. well you may want to add a fill light. 

 

• In this scenario the main light, is the natural window light. So you will want you subject facing the window and you will want to position yourself as close to that window as you can get.
• If there is direct sunlight pooring onto your subject you will first have to diffuse the window before you can use it. A thin white curtain would work, or even taping up one of those white plasic table cloths would work too. 
• Set your camera so that the subjects face is properly exposed. *But keep in mind, your shutter speed can’t go over 1/250 since you will be using a flash for fill*
• Next… we set up the flash in a position to light the shadows that are left from the window light. This will vary so just be flexible, you may end up moving it around if your subject changes poses alot.
• To better match the window light diffusion, you will want to use some sort of modifier on the flash. Here I have the Apollo Mini from Westcott as seen above.
  • Dail the flash way, way down and go from there. You won’t need much light to handle the shadows.
• Other than that, just be flexible and see what happens, bare in mind the light will change throughout the day.

 009 Product Two Light

     It occurs to me that I put up that whole grid tutorial and never posted how I shot it. Well today, the mystery comes out. For small product photography like this you generally want a seamless backdrop, which is usually paper, and very diffuse, even lighting.  This series I did using a roll of Epson enhanced matte, don’t buy that, (mine was a defective roll I got from work a long time ago) just get some bullentin board paper from the party store.  

• First hang your paper from either a stand or cut a peice out and tape it up to a near by wall and drape it gently down to a table. You want the curve to be present, no corner. You may want to tape it to the table once in place.
• For lighting, I prefer to have two lights in large umbrellas placed above and to both sides of the paper, as close as you can get ‘em.
• Set them around 1/4 power to start and lower as you need to. There will be a lot of light if this is done correctly, so you won’t have to use a low aperture. Infact, for great detail, you may want to try and use f/8 if possible.
• For consistency and ease of use, I mounted my camera on a tripod and was using a release cable. The cable is great because I can be moving things and shooting without having to step behind the camera everytime.
• If you are going to have your hands in the shot, use the self timer.
• Play with this, it is a fun way to do pictures of product shots and is great for doing stock photos as well.

You’ve seen the cover girl photos with the super white background and the soft light, well this is kinda how they do it. Actually, if you want to know how to do that, get the Digital Photography Book version 2 or 3 (can’t remember) by Scott Kelby. He does a great job of explaining it. What we are going to do, is a lower budget version of that. I mean, I know I don’t have two or three huge softboxes laying around or lights to put in them, so for those in the same boat, read on…

 

•  First, remember that white table cloth we used as a screen for the silhouette shot, well lets break it out again. This time you will need it stretched out evenly however. Either you can tape/clamp it to two walls, two light stands, one light stand and a wall, whatever… or you can fit it two a screen window frame from the hardware store ($10 maybe).
• Next, like the silhouette, we will have a light behind the screen.. Unlike the silhouette, the subject will be on this side, and the light will be much closer. I think for this shot I used the light socket fitted FlashLight strobe by Smith Victor as my rear light. That thing is great, it is only like $25, get one.
• Speedlight is in a closed umbrella (yes the one my mom made, which is super awesome) and is slightly off to the side of the subject. The closer this thing, the better as the light will be softer. Just remember to adjust the intensity accordingly.
• IF, you can adjust the screen light, it will need to be a few stops more powerful than your main so that the background will easily turn white. However, you will run into some lens flare, so be ready, use a hood, and fix the rest in post.
• IF NOT, then just set your main light accordingly and expose for the background.
• Settings on this one will vary. My advice is, start at the usual, and go from there. Check your histogram, you actually want to see highlight warnings for this one, just not on the subjects face.
• This is a fun set up and the bigger the screen you get, the more fun you can have with it.
• Enjoy

 

To revisit the dramatic theme, I have put together a slightly more involved set up than last time.

• First, we will hang a black bed sheet (or if you can afford it, muslin backdrop) from either a stand, curtain rod, or the wall itself.
• The subject will be several feet from this as to allow room for the accent light.
• This time I employed the Apollo Mini by Westcott because unlike a standard umbrella, it gives us more control over just where the light falls (key for dramatic lighting).
• While our Main is the in usual front left of the subject, the accent light will be opposite of it. Think of it as the lights will be pointing at eachother and the subject just happens to be in the middle.
• The accent light is also wearing a grid in this instance for two reasons. A) to keep it from lighting too much and B)to prevent lens flare. This means it will have to be at least a third of the power of the main cause there will be no diffuser on the accent.
• The main I have set at about 1/4 power and the accent is around 1/8 ish power. Remember, the accent will have to be precisely aimed with a grid on it.
• Camera settings are, you guessed it, 1/125 f/5.6 ISO 100.
• Good shooting, and good night.

Now we will be looking at scenarios where you have more than one light source at your disposal.

This first one is fun and has a bunch of possibilities. You may have seen this kind of thing described on Strobist. I think there is even a video about it, which I recommend. Like all my indoor recipes, this one is specific to a smaller space with less gear.

• First, you will want to get as much space between your subject and the back ground as possible. I had about 10 feet for this shot (in my living room).
• Your background flash will be covered with a colored gel and depending on how far away it is from your main, may have to be turned up almost as high so that it can compete with spill light from you main.
• Other than that, the lighting is very similar to the first basic portrait we ran through. Just add an umbrella to the main flash , place it just above and 45 degrees left or right of your subject, and presto!
• Granted, if you have a covered umbrella or a softbox like the Apollo Mini, there will be less spill, making it easier to balance your background flash.
• Standard settings as usual, start with 1/125 f/5.6 and ISO 100. Adjust accordingly, (especially your backgound flash as it may take several adjustments to get what you want)