Knowing hhow you want lights set up before a shoot?

How many people have an idea of the settings/positions of the lighting they'll use before they even set foot at the location their shooting at? I'm just beginning to dabble in OFC and at the minute it's all working out distances and apertures to get the settings for the flashes and then making what I fell are too many adjustments as I shoot.

At the minute it's just me trying to learn on unimportant objects and friends and I wish things would just 'click' a bit more but I guess that'll take time just.

I'm curious about other peoples workflow for lighting. Do you have a clear idea and just make small adjustments or is it a case of take each shoot as it comes and whatever feels good and fits at the time when you get there. Obviously an editorial photographer will put in more pre-planning than a lifestyle photographer but the same question applies to both parties and anyone else for that matter. How much pre-planning and fore-thought goes into your lighting?

Experience helps, especially if you take notes when you find a set-up that works. For instance, if you use manual settings to shoot a friend at 5.6 feet from the camera & two other people come up for a 3-shot & you have to back up to 8 feet away, you're going to have to open the lens one f-stop. Where did I get that from? Fill light at sunset

These were all taken with the same basic setup: Simple 2 Light Portrait Set-up

Once you understand some basic concepts it becomes a lot easier. The first thing I do is decide how many lights i am going to need. Obviously you always need a key light. Will you need fill? Will you need a light for background separation? Once you decide if you need fill and background separation you already have a leg up on placement. You still have to work with the scene ) can you put a light where you want one? ) but having an idea of what you want, it becomes a matter of application.

For me it directly correlates to how much info I have beforehand. For example, if I know exactly what the subject matter will be, in what sort of location, with what kind of light, and what the desired outcome is, then I usually have a good idea of what my lighting game plan will be. However, if little info is provided, or the info is that it will be quite variable, then it becomes a fluid situation.

Everyone works differently... ME, I pretty much know HOW I want to shoot certain situations.

For example, if I am shooting an outdoor portrait in the daytime, I know that I want to be at about 70-100mm for a more flattering focal length with an aperture of about f8-10 since I wall already have some nice bokeh at that telephoto length. and I always shoot at about 1/200 to freeze as much movement as possible...... so with all that being said, I adjust my light arrordingly. You need enough light to knock out the sun's shadows and match the background light as much as possible. A 600ws light at about 60% usually does the trick.

J_O_S_H_U_A wrote in post #15154336
Everyone works differently...

I think this is a good point, and the important part (as gonzo and Frank said) is arming yourself with as much understanding of, and experience with, lighting as possible.

keith30d wrote in post #15152746
How many people have an idea of the settings/positions of the lighting they'll use before they even set foot at the location their shooting at? I'm just beginning to dabble in OFC and at the minute it's all working out distances and apertures to get the settings for the flashes and then making what I fell are too many adjustments as I shoot.

At the minute it's just me trying to learn on unimportant objects and friends and I wish things would just 'click' a bit more but I guess that'll take time just.

I'm curious about other peoples workflow for lighting. Do you have a clear idea and just make small adjustments or is it a case of take each shoot as it comes and whatever feels good and fits at the time when you get there. Obviously an editorial photographer will put in more pre-planning than a lifestyle photographer but the same question applies to both parties and anyone else for that matter. How much pre-planning and fore-thought goes into your lighting?

I generally know how I want to light my subject but I rarely know how they'll be set up at the location itself until I get there and look around. Ambient may or may not play the role anticipated. The sun may be great as a hair light but it won't be if I have to work in the opposite direction.

My setup planning begins when creating the budget for the client. By the time we agree on a budget and location I have a pretty solid plan on how to tackle the lighting. Bigger budgets mean more time and more people I can bring to help. Smaller budgets mean I might have to do the shoot alone and knock it out quickly so that will call for a simpler shoot.

I start with figuring out how I want to do the key light. Will it be soft box, beauty dish, hard fresnel, natural light, or maybe a bounce? Then I will I figure out the fill light. Lately, I have been using a large white bounce card for fill because I like the look of it and it saves one light. Then I decide on the rim/cross light. Then I decide how to light the background. Then I always have one extra light setup and ready to go for anything unexpected.

Go with a plan.
Then change it.

Gotta be flexible.

There are as many different ways of working as there are photographers. Nobody is right and nobody is wrong, we're all just different.

I'd say that the most important thing you could do at this stage is to write down everything that worked - with a sketch - and build up your own little crib-sheets. Call it 'experience' if you will, but whatever name it has you will be learning. Once you stop learning, your pix all look the same, you get bored and you give up!

Wow, thanks for all the replies guys! I really appreciate the tips people have posted here about their approaches to this.

I've been keeping notes on what has been working (and what hasn't) and trying to work through things in my head before even setting up a flash, but sometimes I'm guilty of over-thinking things and making them more complicated than they need to be.

keith30d wrote in post #15157516
..... but sometimes I'm guilty of over-thinking things and making them more complicated than they need to be.

Aren't we all! 'T'ain't a new problem
Follow the principles of Aristotle, Ptolemy and (more recently :confused William of Occam (Occam's Razor "Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate").

It also depends on the type of shoot for me. If I'm doing a studio portrait shoot, I pretty much know in advance how I'm going to light it, and I might even experiment in advance to get the look I want. If it's an outdoor shoot in a location I've never been to, then I think about different possibilities and bring what I need so I can be flexible on location. If it's a commercial shoot, then I've been involved in the process and know what they're expecting. And so I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to light it but realize that could change, and I have to be prepared for that. I like to plan when I can, but experience will help you be prepared for the unexpected!