Studio Lighting Tips, Techniques, Tutorials and Equipment Information
IMS has announced a product called StikCap which will help eliminate dust from camera lenses and bodies. Made of a micro-weave fabric which attaches to the inside of your lens cap, the StikCap draws dust and captures it before it hits the lens element or body. This is a terrific defensive approach for traveling photographers …
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Back Lighting is a flattering dramatic lighting style. It can be effective for covering skin blemishes due to the generally soft portraits it can produce. Since the light is coming from behind the subject, lens flare is typical, but accepted. The main light should be a large light source or a smaller one aimed at …
ExpoImaging (previously Expodisc Inc.) has announced a new product called the ExpoAperture Depth of Field Guide. This guide is described as a “small circular pocket guide that enables photographers to quickly determine the maximum and minimum depth of field for a given focal length and aperture size”. This guide could prove to be helpful for …
Photographing people while wearing their eyeglasses can be quite difficult in the studio setting. Often the glass lenses reflect the lights and obscure the subjects eyes. This is especially true when the fill light is near the camera axis. Below are several suggestions for dealing with eyeglasses in the photography studio. Raise the camera – …
When used in portrait photography, the term Key refers to the overall tone of the final photograph. The elements of the portrait that play into the tone of it are the color of the background, the color of clothing used and the color of any props or foreground elements. Portraits that have a consistent key …
Paramount Lighting, sometimes called Butterfly Lighting for the shape of the shadow it forms under the nose, is a female glamour lighting style. It works best for women with strong cheek bones and good skin. This lighting is not typically used with male subjects. The key light is placed high with the fill light directly …
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An important concept to understand when dealing with studio lighting for portrait photography is contrast. Contrast is the difference in the amount of light that falls on the dark areas of a scene and the amount of light that falls on the highlight areas of a scene. Humans can see a wide range of contrast …
Shadows are as important to a studio photographer as light. Shadows and their characteristics affect a photo signifigantly. In fact, everything you do to change the way light falls onto your subject will also affect the shadows you produce. Since photos are limited to being two dimensional, we use shadows to illustrate depth and dimension. …
When photographing an object with a smooth surface, the reflection of the light source that can be seen in the object is known as the specular highlight. The size and characteristics of this specular highlight change with the distance to the light source and the size of the light source. As the size of the …
The apparent size of a light source depends on its relative size to the subject and its distance from the subject. The relative size of a light source has a dramatic effect on the shape and brightness of the highlight as well as the softness of shadows cast by the light. A light source that …
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