 Gina Harmeyer |
Best Lighting to Get Started? I would like to purchase some studio-type lighting. I am planning to start doing portrait photography out of my home. I thought I could get by using natural lighting, but I don't want to get started and limit myself to this type of lighting. I would also like to get some equipment and do some practicing before I attempt to do this for pay. What I would like to know is what is a good way to get started without having to spend a lot of money up front. I was looking at a website of a local photography store, they have flood lights and stands with 250W bulbs. They run about $200 for kits with 2-3 lights. I've also seen something similar witih 500W bulbs on another site. One of the websites said this is a good source of lighting to use with any digital camera vs. strobe lighting, and I will be strictly using digital. I would also like to know more about soft boxes or other ways of diffusing the light (assuming I may need to soften this type of light). I'm in a hurry to get this going so I can start learning how to use this kind of lighting, but I need to hear it in simple english! I get overwhelmed since I am very inexperienced in this area. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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John A. Lind |
Gina, The halogen or photoflood type lights you're asking about are commonly called "hot lights" and for good reason. They get very hot . . . as do the subjects being illuminated by them . . . which can eventually start making them perspire if the sitting is long enough (this is a Bad Thing). If you're using light modifiers such as umbrellas (a.k.a. brollies) and especially softboxes, or anything else that totally encloses them, there are also heat dissipation issues. I recommend you consider strobes anyway, and if it's for portrait studio use only (not location work such as weddings) you won't need mondo power lights. Not surprised you're feeling overwhelmed. The subject of studio lighting is a complex one . . . much more than even a very long reply can adequately answer here . . . and it requires a large number of diagrams showing light, camera and subject positions. Entire textbooks cover nothing but lighting, how to use it, and how to modify it for specific effects. I recommend you go to a *large* library and look for books about lighting, and how lights are positioned and their power levels set for standard portraiture. You can do it with two lights, some type of background and perhaps a reflector. Look for something that discusses High Key and Low Key backgrounds, and Main (a.k.a. Key) and Fill lights. It may also mention hair, background and/or "kicker" lights, although using them is a bit more advanced. It should also discuss basic lighting techniques with setup diagrams: Loop, Paramount (a.k.a. Butterfly), Rembrandt (a.k.a. Triangle), Split and Profile, along with doing these from the broad side and short side. It may mention Cross lighting although that isn't used as much. As you can see, there is a *lot* of jargon that is associated with studio lighting. As you go through the book, get a couple of inexpensive small work floodlights (100 Watt bulbs in an aluminum bowl), rig up somthing to hold them, draft a family member or two as "victims" and practice at positioning them, and the lights, to get the major effects you see in the book(s). Don't worry about light modifiers yet; direction and power level is the first step (relative power levels can can be controlled by light distances). This is NOT something you're going to master in a single Saturday afternoon unless you're a natural prodigy with lighting. It will take a while, working and experimenting with the lights. Lighting for portraiture is very intertwined with how to pose people in flattering ways that fit the person, their features and their personalities. Subject, light and camera position are all interdependent. It often requires slightly different lighting positions to get the same effects on different people. Wish I could tell you how to learn it in a week. Most people require a month or so to get decent with it, and it can take much longer to truly master it. -- John
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