FAQ - Studio Lighting

[PhotosGuy]

I thought we should have another place to link to lighting set-ups & invite you to link to yours here. (I’m not being altruistic. I expect to save a lot of two-finger typing time!) ;) Be sure to visit Scott’s “Sticky: -=EOS Flash=- Sticky (Updated 2/23/05 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=46599))”

This doesn't have to be hard guys. The next time you are shooting a job, shoot a WA that includes the lighting, put it in a post with a "results" shot & some basic info, & then put a link here. Should take 10 minutes for most of you. (Takes me 20!) ;)

In most of these I'm using highly reflective subjects 'cause they are the hardest things to light properly. Everything is reflective to some extent (or you couldn't see it at all) so it's a good place to start.

VERY simple "outdoor studio" (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=122297)
It doesn't get any easier than this.

Simple 2 Light Portrait Set-up - 700KB Warning! (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=128857)
A basement, "2" lights, & 45 minutes later...

Halogen (Quartz) light notes (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=270177)

Knife lighting problem (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=65652)
Guess the lighting & see how close you can come to the set-up used.

Browning .22 - 1 light, no "walls" set-up
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66846
A simple set-up using 1 light.

Browning .22 - 3 light set-up
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66705
A simple set-up using 3 bounced lights. See which version you think works the best.

Single umbrella set-up (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66137)
One of the simplest set-ups there is. ;)

Fill light at sunset (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66353)
Here's something that will help you figure light fall-off in your head

Simple "every-day-emergency" location lighting (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66358)
When you're running up & down the steps of a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, you don't want to carry a lot of baggage!
And be sure to check out the Strobist links in there!

More complicated, but the results are worth it: Lightweight strobe solutions (http://web.me.com/joelgrimes/Joel_Grimes_Photography/Blog/Entries/2009/12/10_Canon_Speedlites_on_location.html)

Coin Lighting - a few alternative ways to do it. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67249)
A simple set-up. Find your own individual ways to improve on it. (That shouldn't be hard to do! ;) )
.
Coin Lighting - a slightly different 1 light take on it. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=69880)

A few Car Lighting Tips (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70290)
Just a few hints & examples to get you started + a link to removing backgrounds!


Negative Lighting – a simple technique that makes a big difference! (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70824)
Pour it in, or spill (flag) it out?


Ever tried 1/500 sec strobe "Sync"? Maybe you should!
Strobe sync @ 1/400: Pushing the limits. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=599450)[/B]

Same white background - different looks (http://www.zarias.com/?p=70)
Blog links: http://www.zarias.com/2008/05/

Reference: links to the different looks using gels on different backgrounds (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=12488843&postcount=11)

Photographic tips by Jim Talkington. (http://www.prophotolife.com/)
Includes videos for studio work for product photography, still life, macro or portraiture.
Episode 18, tabletop photography all done with mirrors (http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/06/30/video-episode-18-tabletop-photography-all-done-with-mirrors/)

Bryan Peterson YouTube instructional videos showing simple outdoor lighting with great results. Here he does a lemon slice in carbonated water ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqBVWlrHqG8

Fill flash, reflectors, diffused light for portraits:
Mark Wallace on Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 46: Using Natural Light: Adorama Photography TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jJKF9ihLwQ&feature=related)

Lee Morris Shoots Oak Steakhouse (http://vimeo.com/14279571)
"For a photo shoot, moist, shiny, delicious!" Notice how nice food shot with one light can look.

How to light a glass bottle. Everyone should know how & here's one way to do it. You could substitute white 30" X 40" art board for the diffusion panels & put the light on them.
Studio product photography tips&tricks: Shooting glassware on black background. (http://www.pixiq.com/article/product-photography-tipstricks-shooting-glass-on-black)

Strawberry falling through carbonated water ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6yM8cxLPzM

How'd They Do That? :: Challenge Entries Explained (http://www.dpchallenge.com/how.php)

Kumicho's thread on a Bike lighting problem: Product photography? Consumer-grade (ie cheap) setup? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=977635)

[DavidEB]

The technique sections at Neil Turner's website (www.dg28.com) have been very helpful for me.

[aam1234]

I find this site very good for somebody who is getting started (http://www.shutterbug.net/features/1101sb_getting/) in lighting & studio work (it's called Getting Started :D )

[PhotosGuy]

More "On-the-run" location lighting at Strobist - "Less Gear • More Brain • Better Light" (http://strobist.blogspot.com/)
David (?), a working photographer promotes more effective use of small, shoe-mount flashes with pics & examples:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

Large room; Low light:
planet neil - Tangents » Finding the light (http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/2007/09/12/finding-the-light/)

[PhotosGuy]

This looks like an excellent site! Lighting Magic (http://www.lightingmagic.com./)

"If you want to learn more about studio photography, portraiture, lighting, posing and other photography related topics, you came to the right place. This web site is totally free for you to visit as often as you like and we hope you learn a great deal while you are here. If you enjoy your stay, please tell others. The most prominent subject is professional portrait photography followed by wedding and commercial photography..."

This seems pretty good, too: Fill Flash Cheat Sheet (http://www.popphoto.com/assets/download/821200311318.pdf)
"Pick your effect. Punch in the numbers. It’s as simple as that. by Dan Richards"

[DwightMcCann]

Frank asked me to put a link to a forum in Talking About Photography where I am doing some Q&A on Event Photography, so here it is: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=81761. I'm basically answering questions about how I do what I do and anthing else folks want to know. We have room for about another 50-100 folks in the good seats so come on over if you are into Live Performance or related venues.

[mjordan]

This is a diffusion panel that I made using PVC and nylon. It is 6' high with the white
panel 48" wide and the black side 38" wide. The design allows it to be free standing with the black panel used to block the light that would hit the camera lens and cause lens flare. Two removable clamps join the two panels. This allows the angle of the two panels to be changed or removed if you want to use the panels separately. The white panel could be used as a reflector and the black panel could be used for subtractive lighting. The white and black nylon material is the thicker version of rip-stop nylon, called "Sport Nylon".
I put grommets on each of the 4 corners of the black panel and the white panel has
several more grommets placed along the long edge and top as well as one in each corner.
I have been using wire ties to connect the material to the frame. Spring clamps also work well if you connect them to the PVC with ties or some other method. I found that the material does not have to be stretched tight to work. In fact I only tied off the top part of the black panel and let it hang. The frame is made from one inch PVC pipe from a local Home Depot store. I did not glue any of the corner pieces so it
could be taken apart easily for storage or transportation. The two short legs can be removed so the frame sits on the ground. Or longer pieces can be added to raise it up more.

The purpose of the diffusion panel is to diffuse, soften and spread out the light falling
on the subject. This does an excellent job of doing that. One of the rules of photography
lighting is that the light source should be as big as the area you are photographing. The
size of this panel can be used for full-length portraits on down to items much smaller.

To use the diffusion panel, you place a light source (mono-light, photoflood, flash, etc.)
behind the white panel. The closer the light source is to the panel, the smaller the light
source appears. The further away the broader the light appears. I used my monolight at about 12" to 24" from the panel, depending on if I wanted the whole panel as the light source or a more controllable, smaller area. I usually placed the panel about 2 feet to 3 feet away from the subject. Although not necessary, barn doors help to control the amount of light that is hitting the light panel. The light produced is a soft, diffused, even light that reduces shadows, glare and hot spots.

This is the frame with the black side on. The smaller square is a light panel I made out of a window screen kit and some white polyester material (this was before I found the Sport Nylon). The almost 4'x4' square window screen kit works great for making a light panel, reflector or small background. I've used it for all 3.

http://www.sitnprettyphoto.com/display/d-panel4.jpg

Here is the panel after I put the white nylon on:

http://www.sitnprettyphoto.com/display/panel5a.jpg

The whole thing cost about $35 to make and that included my buying more PVC and a couple more fence panel hinges than I needed. So a light panel can be made very cheaply but yet be a very effective way to control lighting.

Mike

[PhotosGuy]

I like that a lot, Mike! Thanks for posting it!
It's similar to a set-up that I use. Advantage is that you can move lights around behind it.
Disadvantage is that you can't just move the whole light/diffuser as a single unit.

[mjordan]

You are welcome Frank. You are right about it being a little more difficult to move around than a umbrella or reflector would be. But the quality of light you can get from it sure makes up for that. :D

Mike

[zopi]

Mjordan, Thanks for posting the diffuser screeens above, I built similar versions this afternoon. seems they make half decent soft refelectors as well..i set them up with
eight dollar Wally World clamp lights and soft white bulbs (got a few others to play with)

i'll post up a picture of the set up as soon as I can get some made..

I am such an Uber Noob...

[PhotosGuy]

Everyone was once, zopi!
;)

[Nabil-A]

http://www.studiolighting.net
http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/buyersguide/fullbuyersguide.cfm?buyersguideid=26

[mjordan]

Zopi, you are very welcome. That's what's so great about this site. The people on here have been helping me for years and I try to pass it on when ever I can. :D

It not oly makes a good reflector but it also makes a good background when you need a good clean white one. Another way to use it is to put the light behind it and use it for a background. This makes a great light tent like background. The black nylon is great for a background as well as it gives a very clean black background which is good to set off different objects. I use black for a lot of my flower and other still life type shots.

I'd love to get some sport nylon in wider widths... like 10' or so. I've been thinking about trying balloon cloth as that has a polyurethan coating on it to see how that would do, but I've not gotten around to it.

Anyway, glad you were able to benifit from it as I hope others have as well, as I have from others that passed on their experience and ideas at light panels.

Mike

[Robert_Lay]

Portrait Lighting

I have written a document on Portrait Lighting. The HTML version is at:
http://www.zaffora.com/W9DMK/PortraitLighting.htm

and the PDF document may be downloaded at:
http://www.zaffora.com/W9DMK/PortraitLighting.pdf

[PhotosGuy]

Jewlery, coins, glass, flowers...
Table Top Studio (http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/HowTo_page.htm)

[mjordan]

I have the EZCube. It's a pretty good light tent and I've done a number of table top/still life objects in it.

Since white does not make the perfect background for everything, I'll put different colored sheets in the back to use as a background. The colored art paper you can get in art supply houses work really well.

I also like sitting it on a sheet of plexiglass so I can light objects (like glass objects and translucent items like shells) from the bottom as well as the other sides.

It's a great light tent and cheaper than a lot of them out there.

Mike

[DwightMcCann]

Mike, well based on your recommendation I just ordered a 30" EZcube. I have a four head studio flash [Bowens QUADX 3000] and need to shoot wine bottles, probably with a vase of flowers and glass of the wine. I have about twenty to thirty such shots I need to take for different types and vintages and I would like to make each look a little different by changing flowers, glasses, etc. I may want to get back to you on some setups ... mechanically I'm not very clever, sigh. Love the ideas of using plexiglass to get light from underneath and the assortment of background papers. Thanks again.

[hopkins]

what is the difference between monolights, a/c strobes etc?

[mjordan]

A lot of terms like this are used inter changable, Hopkins. Monolights are lights that are self contained. They have the flash tube, power supply, modeling light and controls all in one unit. Monolights are also called studio lights. Light heads, flash packs and other names are units where they have a single power supply and control unti with flash heads connected by cables. You put the flash heads where you want (with long cables trailing all over the place) and set them at the power pack for full, half, 1/4th power etc.

Strobes are usually considered to be something like camera flashes. They are usually lower power than monolights. They usually don't have any adjustments or modeling lights. You just plug them in (usually into a regular lamp socket) and they flash by a photo cell sensor. They can also be battery powered, just like a on camera flash.

But many people use a lot of these terms interchangeabley, paticularly the terms studio lights and monolights.

Mike

[jfrancho]

Here is my version of the "ghetto studio."

http://plan-b.smugmug.com/photos/20837651-M.jpg

And the result:

http://plan-b.smugmug.com/photos/20837654-M.jpg

[DwightMcCann]

Very nice, JF!

[PhotosGuy]

This thread has shown a few interesting set-ups, including jfrancho's above:
Home made cheap mini product photoshoot setup (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=135134)

[PhotosGuy]

The Photoflex School (http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/index.html), while aimed at adding value toward thier products, has some excellent lessons.
Be sure to drill down through them or you may miss some gems like these:
Lighting Lessons :: Basic Lighting :: Product | Still Life (http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Lighting_Lessons/Basic_Lighting/Product___Still_Life/index.html)

[Robert_Lay]

Here is my version of the "ghetto studio."



Dear John,

Your cut-down gallon milk jug as a diffuser is brilliant!

When people ask me what I recommend for diffusion I would like to refer them to that picture, this thread:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1158389
and Frame 20.

And, of course, I can't wait to try out a version of that rig with my camera.

[jfrancho]

Thanks Bob. I can't take credit for the technique as it came about with my wife not allowing me to cut up our Tupperware. The idea originated with a picture of a former member's jewelry setup, showing three flashes surrounding a big semi-opaque Rubbermaid storage bucket. The images that came from that setup were so smooth and beautifully lit, I decided to have a go at it. If you look at my sample gallery (in my sig) you'll see the banannas and Echinacea bud where I used a similar setup. I have a show in June at a local coffee house, and if sales from that go well, along with launching a marketing campaign of my live performance photography, then I'll be adding some proper equipment to the setup. The beauty of still life is in it's inherent "stillness" - you have all the time in the world to get it right, and that aspect is what I like about it. It's a complete 180 from working in a dim night club with skittish subjects and weird lighting.

[Robert_Lay]

Thanks Bob. I can't take credit for the technique as it came about with my wife not allowing me to cut up our Tupperware. The idea originated with a picture of a former member's jewelry setup, showing three flashes surrounding a big semi-opaque Rubbermaid storage bucket. The images that came from that setup were so smooth and beautifully lit, I decided to have a go at it. If you look at my sample gallery (in my sig) you'll see the banannas and Echinacea bud where I used a similar setup. I have a show in June at a local coffee house, and if sales from that go well, along with launching a marketing campaign of my live performance photography, then I'll be adding some proper equipment to the setup. The beauty of still life is in it's inherent "stillness" - you have all the time in the world to get it right, and that aspect is what I like about it. It's a complete 180 from working in a dim night club with skittish subjects and weird lighting.

I don't mind working with belly dancers!

[jfrancho]

I don't mind working with belly dancers!Who wouldn't!

[DavidEB]

Home made light tent (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=139812)

PVC pipe and an old white sheet make a light tent suitable for medium-size objects (up to 20 inches).

[canuck_newbie]

Great tutorial on studio lighting
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=247483

[PhotosGuy]

Mac10's thread: Reflections in Light Tent (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=259457)

" I am attempting to shoot this vase in a light tent but can't get rid of reflections.
First time trying this... searched for answers and found 1 post saying don't use tent.
I would like to achieve minimal reflections but keep the tent for diffusion."

There's a lot of good info there.

[jfrancho]

That's a great thread Frank. Your method is very close to mine for glazed pottery. Here is some interesting info on cross polarization hat I've been using. It really works great: http://www.naturescapes.net/042004/wh0404.htm. Here is a picture using that technique:
http://plan-b.smugmug.com/photos/107064529-L.jpg

[PhotosGuy]

Harleypugs Thread: Another DIY light box, with build and test pics (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=281524)

[PhotosGuy]

Gilp has several lighting set-ups in this thread in G&N: Greetings from montreal (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=258799)

[PhotosGuy]

post your lighting setup diagrams please... (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=432316)


You got a studio set up? Small, big? Show us how it looks like! (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=121664)

[Curtis N]

Thanks to PeteJaffa for this page of sample shots with lighting diagrams. Definitely worth a look!
http://uk.fotopunto.com/articulo-explained-lighting-schemes_60

[BottomBracket]

Excellent thread! I'm just about to purchase a set of lights, the knowledge here is just tremendous. Thanks all!

[PhotosGuy]

Dan found this one: EVOLT E-500 How to Use Strobes with Umbrellas (http://olympusdigitalschool.com/photo_lessons/EVOLT_E-500_How_to_Use_Strobes_with_Umbrellas/index.html)

Axton's thread: Low cost off camera flash tutorial for beginners (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=426102)

The Olympus Digital School Home Page (http://olympusdigitalschool.com/photo_lessons/index.html)

Valentinephoto's thread: Some non-traditional cheap background suggestions (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=521911)

[PhotosGuy]

Nice work from pnmd using natural light and Home Depot fan: Mariah (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=880493)

[DanielFotografie]

I like this thread.