Studio Photography Essential Skills, 4th Edition P13 pps

Studio Photography: Essential Skills Introduction This study guide should be used as a practical source of information to understanding the use of artificial light sources in a studio en

Studio Photography: Essential Skills

Perspective

Visual perspective is the relationship between objects within the frame and their place within the composition It is this relationship that gives a sense of depth in a two-dimensional

photograph ‘Diminishing perspective’ is when objects reduce in size as the distance from the camera to that object increases ‘Converging perspective’ is when lines that in real life are parallel appear to converge as they recede towards the horizon The human eye has a fixed focal length and a perspective determined by viewpoint Photographic perspective can be altered by changing the distance of the camera from the subject

Steep perspective

A wide angle lens apparently distorts distance and scale, creating ‘steep perspective’ A subject close to the lens will look disproportionately large compared to its surroundings Objects behind and to the side of the main subject will appear much further away from the camera due

to the closer viewpoint often associated with a wide angle lens

Compressed perspective

The distant viewpoint of a long lens condenses distance and scale, creating ‘compressed

perspective’ A subject close to the lens will look similar in size to other subject matter Objects behind and to the side of the main subject will appear closer together than reality

Compressed perspective – Stuart Wilson Steep perspective – Stuart Wilson

Jeph Ko

essential skills

A knowledge and understanding of the use of artifi cial light sources, camera and

•

associated equipment in a studio environment

An awareness of the effect of artifi cial light in the creation and control of lighting

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ratios, tonal range, contrast and exposure

Through research the study and observation of the use of light in the production of

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photographic images

using light

Rodrick Bond

Studio Photography: Essential Skills

Introduction

This study guide should be used as a practical source of information to understanding the use of artificial light sources in a studio environment The explanation of how to use the light sources (diffuse and direct) is directly related to providing practical lighting solutions to the assignments

in ‘Lighting still life’ and ‘Assignments’ Completion of the activities will provide a basis for an understanding of the recommended approach to each assignment It is advisable the technique and lighting approach suggested in each activity be initially followed and then adapted to individual subject matter

Approach

The sun, the dominant light source in the world outside the studio, is the starting point

to understanding studio lighting As you progress through your photographic career other approaches will inevitably influence you but an understanding of how to use a single light source to achieve many varied results is a discipline worth mastering Try not to attempt too much too soon Set yourself goals you know you can achieve within your limitations Aspiring photographers may never have enough time or money but admirably they are exploding with ideas It is making these ideas work within these constraints and abilities that will give successful results Set out to achieve what you know is possible, take as much time as is available and exercise patience If you allow three hours to produce an image use the full three hours When you have completed the photograph experiment with variations Every time you move a light

or alter its quality you will learn something You will never take the perfect photograph If you ever think you have, change careers because photographically the learning process has ceased

Shaun Guest

Using light Working with studio lights

Common rules

Common rules of physics apply to the use of artificial light sources When sunlight passes through greater amounts of particles in the atmosphere at dawn or sunset, exposure times increase compared to a reading taken at noon This applies to clear and overcast days Exposure times will obviously be shorter on a clear day Applying these rules to a studio situation, the greater the impedance to the light (diffusion, reflection, filtration) the longer the exposure The less impedance to the light (no diffusion, reflection, filtration) the shorter the exposure

Another simple rule The amount of light falling on a subject decreases to 1/4 of its original intensity when the light to subject distance is doubled, and increases by four times when the light to subject distance is halved For example, if a reading of f16 is obtained when the light to subject distance is one metre, at two metres the reading would be f8, at four metres f4 These rules do not change regardless of the light source It is also important to remember contrast in a studio situation is created not only by the reflectance level of the subject matter (SBR) but also

by lighting ratios When referring to lighting ratios the photographer is also referring to lighting contrast See ‘Light’

Activity 1

In a darkened studio place a light one metre from the studio wall and take an incident

reading, with the light on, of the light falling upon the wall Note the reading and move the light on the same axis another one metre, making a total of two metres, away from the wall Note the reading Double the distance once more, making a total of four metres The final reading will be four stops less than the first What will the distance of the light from the wall have to be to achieve a meter reading of three stops less than the first?

Key light one metre from subject Key light two metres from subject – Fabio Sarraff

Studio Photography: Essential Skills

Flash

Flash is a generic term referring to an artificial light source of high intensity and short duration

It has a color temperature of 5500K to 5800K and is balanced to daylight Unlike tungsten it

is not a continuous source of light Between flashes it has to recycle (recharge) to maximum output before it can be used A large tungsten lamp has an output 100 times greater than the average household light bulb With a film or image sensor rated at ISO 100 this will give exposures of around 1/60 second at f4 A modest studio flash with an output of 5000 joules (measurement of output) at the same distance from the subject will give exposures of around 1/500 second at f11 This is six stops faster or a ratio of 64:1 Its advantage with subject matter that moves becomes obvious

The advantage of modern flash is its lightweight construction and versatility Most studio flash systems consist of the power pack, flash heads and flash head attachments The power pack is usually a separate unit where the power output is stored until the instant of exposure After exposure the power pack recharges ready for the next exposure Recycling times vary from seconds to fractions of a second The faster the recharge to full power the more expensive the unit The flash heads are the actual light source The basis of their design is to produce

a light quality similar to that produced by floodlights and spotlights The way in which this

is achieved ranges from varying sizes of reflector bowls similar in design to a floodlight, to a focusing spotlight equivalent to its tungsten counterpart The choice of flash head attachments manufactured to achieve this is extensive and varied A large percentage of the images in this book were lit using studio flash This is not to underestimate the importance of tungsten in a studio situation Flash, being a non-continuous light source, is confined to ‘still’ photography whereas tungsten lighting is used almost exclusively in ‘moving’ photography (film, video and TV) However, the lessons learned with one light source apply equally to any other

Tracey Hayes

Using light Floodlight

Despite the manufacturers’ names, swimming pool, soft box, fish fryer, honeycomb and many others, these are really only larger or smaller variations of a floodlight In some the light source

is placed inside and to the rear of a collapsible tent with direct light transmitted through a diffuse front surface In others the light is reflected off a white or silver surface before it is transmitted through a diffuse front surface These types of light sources give a very soft diffuse light with minimum shadows Another source of soft diffuse light is created when flash is used

in conjunction with a collapsible umbrella With umbrellas having a white or silver (inside) surface, diffuse light with no shadows can be directed into the umbrella and reflected back onto the subject With umbrellas having a semi-transparent surface, diffuse light with soft shadows can be directed at the subject through the umbrella

Spotlight

The use of an open flash (direct light to subject without diffusion or reflection) will give the same effect as a spotlight Some brands have focusing capabilities closely imitating Fresnel spotlights The light will be hard with no shadow detail Barn doors, nets and filtration of the light is approached in the same way with either artificial light source

Soft box Reflected umbrella Diffuse umbrella

Studio Photography: Essential Skills

Tungsten

Vacuum tungsten lamps and their derivatives are widely used forms of artificial photographic lighting in photography, film and television They have a color temperature between 3200K and 3400K and are compatible with correctly balanced image sensors, tungsten color film and black and white film See ‘Image capture’ Despite the extensive use of flash in a commercial studio, prior to any flash exposure the way a subject is lit is usually determined by the use of tungsten modelling lamps built into the flash heads Flash gives a much shorter exposure time with a similar quality of light to the same subject having been lit by an appropriate tungsten light source However, compared to flash, tungsten is relatively simple technology It should be taken into account when learning the use of tungsten lighting that all film and television lighting is tungsten based There are many variations to the lighting sources available but in general terms they all fall into the two major categories, floodlight and spotlight

Floodlight

A floodlight produces a wide flood of light across a subject The light from the lamp bounces off the reflector in which it sits and travels forward as a broad light source This diffuse light gives ‘soft’ edges to the shadows and some shadow detail The quality of the light is similar to sunlight through light cloud

Activity 2

In a darkened studio place a diffuse flash or tungsten floodlight four metres in front of a

person standing against the wall Turn on the light Note the lack of shadow detail

Without moving the light get the person to move one metre away from the wall Note the increase in shadow detail and softening of the shadows’ edges

Repeat in one metre increments until the subject is almost in front of the light

What is happening to the shadows and why?

Compile results in your Record Book

Floodlight

Using light Spotlight

A spotlight, by use of a focusing (Fresnel) lens, can concentrate light at a certain point The light from the lamp is directed forward by a spherical reflector and focused to a point by the glass Fresnel lens The light will have ‘hard’ edges to the shadows and no detail in the shadow areas The quality of the light is similar to direct sunlight Spotlights can be ‘flooded’ to give a more diffuse quality comparable to the spread of a floodlight but with less shadow detail This change from spot to flood is achieved by moving the lamp and the reflector inside the lamp housing away from (spot) or closer to (flood) the lens at the front of the light On ‘full spot’ shadows are harsh with no detail, on ‘full flood’ shadows are softer with some detail

Most spotlights are supplied with barn doors and nets Barn doors are four metal flaps

attached to the front of the light and used to control the shape and amount of light falling on the subject Narrowing the doors will not only reduce the amount of light but also control the shape of the light falling on the subject Once shaped the barn doors can be rotated independently of the main light housing Nets are pieces of wire gauze of varying densities that reduce the output of the light by diffusing the light at its source without greatly affecting the shadows They are manufactured in half, one and two stop increments

Activity 3

In a darkened studio light a subject (a person) with a diffuse flash or tungsten floodlight from the right-hand side

Record with correct exposure for the lit side of the face

Turn off the light and relight the same subject from the same direction with an open flash or tungsten spotlight on ‘full spot’

Record with correct exposure for the lit side of the face

Observe the results and determine the difference in the intensity and detail in the shadows Which light would you use for no shadow detail and which light for limited shadow detail? Compile results in your Record Book

Full flood/full spot

Flood beam

Filament Spherical

reflector

Specular

finish

Spot beam

Filament Spherical

reflector

Specular finish

Fresnel lens