Begin at the beginning

This week was the first of the studio lighting workshops, and once again the numbers of folks taking part proves the desire to learn a little about lighting in a studio environment. Whilst some of the more experienced members set up sets and shot their own pictures the group of folks keen to learn from beginning was large.

In the session we covered:

• Light stands
• The studio flash heads
• Ways to trigger the studio flash
• Light modifiers and shapers; softboxes, reflectors, spill kills, grids (honeycombs), beauty dish
• Using a light meter
• How to set-up background supports and paper rolls

Of course with four models on the night we had some pictures to take, but mostly these will come in the following three sessions now that the basics are well covered.

Beauty dish and grid

In the two pictures below the same light was used with the beauty dish, but for one image a grid was fitted to control the spread of light. Notice how much darker the background is when the grid is restricting the beam to light the model and not half of the village hall!

Softbox

Most people think a softbox is a lifesaver, and it often is photographically speaking. Here a small 60cm square softbox was set up and the model positioned close to it. Then the photographer was directed to take different angles of the same model and soft box to see if different or better shots were possible. Thanks to Chris Andrews for these pictures.

Next sessions

Next session it’s time for everyone to experiment with just one light. Some will be with softboxes, some with reflectors, beauty dishes and what ever else we can use to shape the light.

Session #3 – high key night, we’ll be lighting models and backgrounds to get that bright white high-key look

Session #4 – low key and film noir looks. Think dark, think high contrast, think 1930s gangsters and their molls that’ll give you some ideas