Studio Lighting Workshop 1 – pictures | Creative and business resources for photographers

Studio Lighting Workshop 1 – pictures

December 1st, 2008

Here is a small selection of the pictures shot at last Mondays studio lighting workshop.

Rolls of Calumet background paper and a Kia car in the scene dock made a funky background for this Broncolor ringflash shot.

We had a fantastic day exploring the properties of shadows, the hardness of light sources and the techniques used to light the face. All of the pictures were shot on either a mid grey or a white background.

We started with just one single hard light source and explored the system I use to reveal the shape of facial features.

We started with just one single hard light source and explored the system used to reveal the shape of facial features.

Here you can see the set up with the grey background roll just touching the floor. I've added a 3/4 backlight to separate Holly's hair from the background.

Here you can see the set up with the grey background just touching the floor. Ive added a 3/4 backlight to separate Holly

We had two set ups and a ratio of 4 photographers per model. Here Dagmara is lit with a soft key light and a hard 3/4 backlight.

Here I upped the power of the backlight.

A hard key light with a high backlight was used for this simple shot.

I used a high viewpoint for this shot. I normally shoot from below the eyeline but it is worth exploring all angles.

We next explored using hard kick lights combined with a backlight and a soft key light.

'Butterfly lighting' created by two hard light sources was all that was needed for this set up.

Some call it butterfly lighting, I call it an upstage key from the left and a kick light from the right.

Next it was time for a little distraction. I used my Broncolor Mobil head gelled up in pink in the back of this light cube. I used this prop together with a pair of subtle kick lights.

As above but without the pink.

A pair of gelled up kick lights introduced a bit of colour to this image. All the shots so far have used spill light from the key to light the background.

Four hard lights plus a fresnel spot for the background were needed to light the girls. Each light needed careful placement to create the right look. The background is white and about 4m behind the girls.

I used just three hard lights and a white background for this shot. It

Please feel free to comment on these pictures and the strategies used to make them. It is worth noting that the delegates understanding of the lighting process was the key aim of the day.

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2 Comments Add your own

1. Jon Roche | December 4th, 2008 at 9:49 am

Thanks for a great day Damien.

Even after a lot of pruning I came away with over 100 ‘keepers’ of different poses and lighting set ups.

As an amateur the techniques involved were straight forward and the results very pleasing, I can highly reccomend the day.

Holly and Dagmara were very patient with us, I am coming down to the Winter Wedding day on Moanday (8th) so will try and bring a few prints for them.

Thanks again

Jon
2. Denise Wills | December 6th, 2008 at 8:19 am

Thank you Damien for a brilliant day.

The workshop gave me confidence with studio lighting and made me realise not to be afraid of it but to experiment and have fun with it.

Really pleased with the images we shot that day. A very enjoyable and informative course.

Denise