The class was an all-day class held on a Thursday. I arrived in class to find several different lighting sets ups in place. The one mistake I made for most of the day was not to take photos of the lighting set ups that where in place. I did take some notes on elements I would otherwise not been able to remember the names off or the techniques used in those setups. For the most part I recognised most of the set-ups and understood some of the basic points with them.
Set-up 1
Working in a group we picked our first set up to work with. This was a large soft-box overhead. The back-ground was an old tarp draped over a stand. There was a small box to sit on. This gave a single point of light on the subject that would mimic natural sunlight.
This is an image from that set. It has had only light editing in Lightroom.
As can be seen in the image the light comes from above and to the right of the subject’s face. This gave the effect of a lot of shadow falling on the left of the face. It also gave the hair detail. This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 73mm, f10 and at 1/160thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space. The end result is a nice contrast in the image. I could have used reflectors to lift the shadows in the underside but I liked the way the shadow falls on the face.
Set-up 2
The next set up was Using 4 studio lights aimed at a wall to the right of the subject. 2 slightly higher than the other two. The wall acted like a reflector. To the left of the subject is a stand with a large flag that was used to as a fill on the left of the face.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 200mm, f11 and at 1/125thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space. The end result is quite editorial in appearance. The contrast in the image is not as heavy as in the first image. The softer contrast means there is less of a difference in the highlights and the lowlights making the image more of an even mid-tonne in its final appearance.
Set-up 3
This is a set up I would have enjoyed more time on. I have always liked a dappled light. I feel it adds so much to an image. The Gobo light is an attachment that has a cone and then plates that can be inserted in to it that have designs cut in to them that create a specific shadow. This was used as a singular light source as so much of the light is cut out. A simple background close to the subject gets so little light it comes out black as long as the exposure is based on the highlights on the subject.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 94mm, f4 and at 1/100thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space. I would not normally opt to shoot at 1/100thof a sec in a studio as there is a risk of introducing camera shake when off a tripod or motion blur from the subject. Looking back, I would have opted to have one of the spots of lights on the leading eye, maybe both eyes but I still enjoy the result of not seeing the eyes in a lot of detail sue to the shadows. If I had more time I would have made the shadows much stronger so I had more contrast in the lowlights and highlights. However, I like the end result.
Set-up 4
This had one light above and to the front of the subject. There was a reflector that was on a stand directly under the subject’s head. Panels to the left and right to reflect light back to the side of the subject’s face, with one below to eliminate any shadows under chin of the sitter. I either need more time to explore this set-up or it’s the case that I just don’t enjoy the results from it. I didn’t find the end result flattering to the subject. While I can see that there is no shadows in the subjects eyes and it’s a soft even light that is delivered.
It may be down to that I felt awkward in the area and standing on a small stool to get some height on the subject. In the end up I would say for the moment this is not a set-up I will use again too soon without having too.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 85mm, f10 and at 1/160thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space.
Set-up 5
The Ring-flash. I am going to say it now. I have always wanted a ring-flash. The qualities of it are spectacular. A nice even front on lighting that creates no shadows on the subject’s face. The catch light when done right is very complementary. The team did set about playing with this set-up quite extensively and we had a lot of fun with it. For this reason, I am using two images from this set-up.
In the image above you can see the even spread light has left a soft shadow around the subject. Moving him further from the back would have helped to reduce this or even a back light or reflectors could have taken care of that issue. This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 72mm, f10 and at 1/160thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space.
In the image above, we set about using a fisheye lens inside the ring-flash as we had some time to explore what we could produce. We had the ring-flash very close to the subject. It does not look like that due to the effect of the fish-eye lens but there was only a couple of CM from the subject’s face. This is hard on the subject as the light is bright so it’s best to have a get this done quick mentality.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 15mm, f22 and at 1/160thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space.
Set-up 6
This again was another single light source set up. It’s known as the clam-shell. With flags on both sides bowing in the studio light and large soft-box. To complete the clam-shell a large reflector is placed below the subject reflecting the light back up under the subject while the flags on the side bounce back a small amount of light to complete circle of light created. It completely lifted all shadows from the face and even thought the subject has a cap on there is no shadows falling on the face.
In the image above has some room to play. I feel I could have varied the exposure more to see what results I could get. However, I have little negative that I can say about the overall results.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 70mm, f4 and at 1/160thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space.
Set-up 7
This set up requires one big soft-box and two lights facing inward. One at each side. Then one light at the front to fill in and this gives a clean white back-ground with sharp highlights on the side of the subjects face or a large reflector. The results from this set-up are very pleasant indeed.
face. I could have brought it closer to give just a little bit lighter on the front of the subject. It’s only in editing I am seeing that I am seeing where I would improve the overall image. I may have also made the light higher and a little bit more to the left of my shooting position. This would have introduced a little bit more shadow to the subject. With it being a steady light, I was able to see the effect of the light in real time. This would have helped me to shot above 1/100thsec. Although no issues are seen in this image it still could have been better with some minor work.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 85mm, f9 and at 1/100thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space.
Set-up 8
The final set-up I used on that day involved 3 studio lights. 2 in large thin rectangular soft boxes behind the subject with one light to the front and above the subject. The two lights at the back have the same angle on them. The front light is switched off. The person walks one step at a time from behind the two lights to in front of the two lights. This process is to let us see where the high-lights fall on the subject. It also offers the chance to find the exposure for the high-lights as seen below.
At this point the subject’s position is marked. We then introduce the 3rdlight at the front. It’s at this stage that we can be creative with the look I want to achieve.
I can see from the shadows that the light at the front in this shot was above me and to the right. I really enjoy the final result in this image and I don’t have any criticism of the quality of light delivered in this set-up. It gives a great highlight to the subjects face while the back-ground is going towards black. The face has an even light while still having the depth of shadows in key areas.
This was shot at ISO 100, using a 70-200mm f2.8 at 85mm, f5.6 and at 1/125thsec. Colour pre-sets are Adobe 1998 in Lightroom, Same colour settings as the DSLR for colour space.
In conclusion I would use nearly all of these lighting types in the future. Each of them has their place as trusted set-up that help deliver a professional quality of light in the studio. I sternly have some favourites that I will uses. Not just the quality of light delivered but in their ease of use. Some are just a lot of fun and offer the physical space for a subject to move around it and be lively while others that space maybe more confined so a little bit more constrictive in what can be done. The simple fact is I could easily have spent a few more days with all the variant set-ups available to explore and had more time to fine tune some things I was doing.
