Lighting

[Erik_4022]

Hi

My name is Erik and i have a small favore to ask! I started to do photo shooting of models and for my church yearbook but the probem is I do not know how to set up my lights properly. I mean that I have 4 lights and everything but i do not know where to put them around the person.

If you can please give me some sites or maybe some books you suggest on how to setup a studio, it would be most of importance if there would be pictures or examples of where all the stuff should go. Thank You! so much.

[John Kasaian]

Erik,

I've always liked Roger Hicks book on lighting. I can't remember the title off hand, but Amazon ought to have copies.

Good Luck!

[Ralph Barker]

The Hicks book John suggested is good, and there are a bunch of other books on portrait lighting and other lighting styles that are helpful, as well. Many of these include diagrams that show the setup. To better understand the character of light, and how to light different shapes and surfaces, try Hunter and Fuqua's book, "Light - Science and Magic".

[Frank Petronio]

Start simple and get a Polaroid back and some fast film (ASA 400) so you don't need to blast your subjects.

You can use hot lights for 4x5 if you have cooperative and quiet subjects. Constant lighting (photo floods, halogens, etc.) is a good way to learn, as strobe takes some "imagination" - or a heck of a lot of Polaroids!

You can also experiment with a small digital camera to get faster feedback and to save on Polaroid costs.

[Ellis Vener]

The first thing you should do is go through some magazines and start collecting images that you like. Start studying the lighting: look atthe placement ofthe light relative to the subject -- you can do hthis by looking at the highlight reflection in the eyes and also the shape and angle of the shadows.The size and hardness ofthe shadow will tell you something about the size ofthe lightsource relativeto the size of the subject. How dark the shadow is relative to the light area will tell you something about whther or not a fill source was used to lighten the shadows, and also the relative strength of the fill light to the source light. Lighting cookbooks often refer to this ratio in absolute terms (1:2, 1: 4, etc.) in reality it rarely is that precise.

Speaking of books, the one book to start with is "Matters of Light and Depth" by Ross Lowell.

[Wayne Crider]

Go Here

[Ellis Vener]

Having gone to the website WayneC recommended and looked around, I'd say his advice is great... IF your goal is to do work that looks like it was done in 1973.

[Rory_3532]

As Ellis Vener says, the book to start with is Ross Lowell's Matters of Light and Depth. Apart from identifying and analyzing photographs that you like, you might also consider looking at photographs of paintings by people like Ingres and Vermeer. One thing that I found helpful was to simply look at people around me and pay attention to to the pattern of light on their faces and clothes. You can learn a lot about lighting and its impact just by looking around you.

[Frank Petronio]

For your purposes, you may have the time to learn to light like a seasoned professional. You may want to try simple, open lighting that is complimentary to most people and makes easy to be consistent. (Look through a Vogue magazine to see how poor lighting done with consistentcy can make you a famous fashion photographer ;-))

People close to North facing window light with a fill card opposite is a classic look that "never goes out of style." Also you can bounce light off walls and ceilings to achieve similar effects, etc.

The Lowell book is the best I've seen.

[James Driscoll]

Wayne....I hope it was sarcasm that made you post that link.....