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03/13/2004 12:17:30 AM · #1 |
I am very interested in doing portrait work and was excited to see it come up as a challenge. I have no professional lighting, so I went searching for some Internet sites which might help teach me some more about basic studio lighting for portraits.
I figure for now, I can just absorb the basic ideas and try to make my own lighting work for those ideas. Once I take more time to see what works, I'll invest in some lights.
Here is a site I came across which I think does a wonderful job of demonstrating some basic lighting techniques and setups. I thought others might benefit from it as well:
Portrait lighting |
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03/13/2004 12:50:16 AM · #2 |
They have some pretty good tuturials on that site. Thanks for sharing.
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03/13/2004 09:55:46 AM · #3 |
Nice to see some of these were done with the oly e-20 ;)
Thanks for the link!
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03/13/2004 10:06:31 AM · #4 |
Some of the best portraits I have ever seen were done in purely natural light. Studio lighting is not a real requirement for all types of portraits. Spend some time experimenting with what you have available :)
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03/13/2004 12:19:24 PM · #5 |
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03/13/2004 12:33:47 PM · #6 |
There are two books I would highly recommend for lighting technique.
1)Matters of Light and Depth by Ross Lowell - this covers lighting for film and video, in a plain language, non technical way.
2)Light and Lighting in Photography by Andreas Feininger - a really comprehensive look at the subject, more so than the first book.
With that being said, does anyone have recommendations for brand names as far as lighting kits go? Is there a Cadillac of lights? Are there brands to stay away from? What would you recommend to start out with for a basic lighting set up for a variety of applications? |
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03/13/2004 01:32:31 PM · #7 |
| I really like the pose for the bride portrait. It seems painterly, like a portrait from the Renaissance. The costume, of course, is different, but the pose is timeless. |
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03/13/2004 06:01:29 PM · #8 |
| Also a warming filter will add warmth, improve skin tones in the shots. |
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03/13/2004 06:29:13 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by matiscro:
There are two books I would highly recommend for lighting technique.
1)Matters of Light and Depth by Ross Lowell - this covers lighting for film and video, in a plain language, non technical way.
2)Light and Lighting in Photography by Andreas Feininger - a really comprehensive look at the subject, more so than the first book.
With that being said, does anyone have recommendations for brand names as far as lighting kits go? Is there a Cadillac of lights? Are there brands to stay away from? What would you recommend to start out with for a basic lighting set up for a variety of applications? |
Alien Bee
Bescor
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03/14/2004 05:51:06 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
I whole-heartedly agree. I really like natural lighting. I would, however, like to learn the basics of studio lighting so that I have more versatility. The ones below I took with natural lighting. I need to work on the posing, but I am happy with the lighting.
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I really liked middle Photograph , It is really great, lighting, Posing.
Message edited by author 2004-03-14 05:51:32. |
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03/14/2004 09:23:04 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by justine:
Originally posted by matiscro:
There are two books I would highly recommend for lighting technique.
1)Matters of Light and Depth by Ross Lowell - this covers lighting for film and video, in a plain language, non technical way.
2)Light and Lighting in Photography by Andreas Feininger - a really comprehensive look at the subject, more so than the first book.
With that being said, does anyone have recommendations for brand names as far as lighting kits go? Is there a Cadillac of lights? Are there brands to stay away from? What would you recommend to start out with for a basic lighting set up for a variety of applications? |
Alien Bee
Bescor |
I use three Elinchrom strobes and love them. They offer all of the features that I need and many more that I have yet to discover the power of. They are well built and I expect years of performance from them. I use Chimera soft boxes, Photek umbrellas and Lastolite reflectors mounted on Manfrotto stands. AS well, I make use of the Pocket Wizard family of products to fire the strobes.
On occasion, I can adapt the Nikon camera mounted flashgun units to the stands and umbrellas. I use several Nikon SU-4 remote slave triggers to trip the older units and the built-in slave on the newer models.
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03/14/2004 10:48:28 AM · #12 |
| Smith Victor is also a good one. You can find them online HERE. |
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03/14/2004 02:03:30 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Morgan:
Originally posted by justine:
Originally posted by matiscro:
There are two books I would highly recommend for lighting technique.
1)Matters of Light and Depth by Ross Lowell - this covers lighting for film and video, in a plain language, non technical way.
2)Light and Lighting in Photography by Andreas Feininger - a really comprehensive look at the subject, more so than the first book.
With that being said, does anyone have recommendations for brand names as far as lighting kits go? Is there a Cadillac of lights? Are there brands to stay away from? What would you recommend to start out with for a basic lighting set up for a variety of applications? |
Alien Bee
Bescor |
I use three Elinchrom strobes and love them. They offer all of the features that I need and many more that I have yet to discover the power of. They are well built and I expect years of performance from them. I use Chimera soft boxes, Photek umbrellas and Lastolite reflectors mounted on Manfrotto stands. AS well, I make use of the Pocket Wizard family of products to fire the strobes.
On occasion, I can adapt the Nikon camera mounted flashgun units to the stands and umbrellas. I use several Nikon SU-4 remote slave triggers to trip the older units and the built-in slave on the newer models. |
Thanks for the great info. A couple questions - what does a strobe do exactly. What kind of setup do you use the most (number of lights and their wattages)
Message edited by author 2004-03-14 14:05:59. |
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03/14/2004 05:31:09 PM · #14 |
| For you natural lightists (which i agree with)...many portraits are taken using medium-source lighting. |
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03/14/2004 06:15:23 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by matiscro:
Originally posted by Morgan:
Originally posted by justine:
Originally posted by matiscro:
There are two books I would highly recommend for lighting technique.
1)Matters of Light and Depth by Ross Lowell - this covers lighting for film and video, in a plain language, non technical way.
2)Light and Lighting in Photography by Andreas Feininger - a really comprehensive look at the subject, more so than the first book.
With that being said, does anyone have recommendations for brand names as far as lighting kits go? Is there a Cadillac of lights? Are there brands to stay away from? What would you recommend to start out with for a basic lighting set up for a variety of applications? |
Alien Bee
Bescor |
I use three Elinchrom strobes and love them. They offer all of the features that I need and many more that I have yet to discover the power of. They are well built and I expect years of performance from them. I use Chimera soft boxes, Photek umbrellas and Lastolite reflectors mounted on Manfrotto stands. AS well, I make use of the Pocket Wizard family of products to fire the strobes.
On occasion, I can adapt the Nikon camera mounted flashgun units to the stands and umbrellas. I use several Nikon SU-4 remote slave triggers to trip the older units and the built-in slave on the newer models. |
Thanks for the great info. A couple questions - what does a strobe do exactly. What kind of setup do you use the most (number of lights and their wattages) |
A strobe is basically a high power flash. It offers many other features that aid the photographer in the creation of an image. Often, the light level output of a strobe can be adjusted over a wide range, normally expressed in "f-stops".
Fixed lighting light the Smith-Victors and others offer a constant light level and need to be physically moved nearer or farther from the subject to change the illumination. They offer different features and can be considered a good choice too when you are under budget constraints or in situations when they may be easier to use. Many of the best photographers used fixed illumination lamps; for example Karsh - who is my favourite photographer.
Often in modern photography, there can be a mixture of light sources - strobes, floods, and direct or indirect natural lighting. Light and lighting is one of the most creative aspects of photography and can provide significant enjoyment.
With regards to your question, I use whatever is required to do the job.
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