DPC | Digital Photography Courses

Last week we had our second studio lighting workshop for this year; and boy did we have fun? The “crowd” of five attendees was very lively and through all the jokes and mess about, I was bombarded with questions.

I started out by explaining what a typical studio should look like and then shared practical bits about anything from light stands, to studio flashes, light shapers and the various effects each create.

Thereafter, we discussed tonal areas (the difference between shadows, midtones and highlights), transition areas, light ratios, different types of lights, i.e. Key, Fill, Kicker, Background Lights and Gobos. Then came camera settings and the use of a light-meter. We then started building various lighting setups and everyone took a part. I will be sharing a few of the “crowd’s” shots here, but before we get to that, I felt to share a few basic elements of studio portraiture with our readers…

Essential to all good portraits is Highlights and Shadows.. and good Transitions…

What few people realise is that studio lighting is not as simple as setting up two lights, equally powered, pointing to your subject at 45 degree angle, and there you go; everything from foreground and subject to the background, the exact same tone and brightness. Maybe great for school portraits, but boring. No, no, no! Why have everything equally and perfectly lit? To add a kick to your portraits, you need those shadows as well. True portraiture is about creating a balance between highlights and shadows. Whether you go for softer, unobtrusive shades, or dark dramatic shadows (the Rembrandt way), you need those shadows just as much as you need the highlights. Then, you also need to know how to”mix” the shadows with the highlights. In photography terms, we speak of a transition” area, which in easy terms, refer to the way your highlights, midtones and shadows blend into each other. In other words, a “smooth” transition means that your highlights will gradually blend into the darker tones. A hard transition then; means that there will be less “blending in” between shadows and highlights. In other words, there will be an edgy or definte line between shadows and highlights. Typically, femaleportraits are softer and the transition areas will be very gradual and soft. Male portraits, on the other hand, may have a more definite transition area. Then there’s also the matter of light ratios…

Light Ratios and the correct way to use Key Lights and Fill Lights..

In nature we really have one single, powerfull light source; the sun. The sun is a very direct light source that creates dark and stark shadows when blazing down in full power. Sometimes other elements like water, foliage, rocks, sand, glass etc may reflect some of the light back into those shadows and reveal the most gorgeous forms and patterns.The sun then is the Mother of all Lights, the Main Light Source, or Key-Light. The other reflective sources “fills” the shadows and are  called “Fill Lights”.

True portraiture is the same. You will always have one Key-Light and may have one, or several “Fill” lights to “fill-in” some of the shadows. The shadows are neccesary and responsible for revealing form and depth, whereas highlights and midtones would reveal, spark, colour and texture. An important pointer is that there should only be a single (one only) key light to create the image and set the mood of the portrait. All other lights should contribute to that one light and play a secondary part to the  central theme. No other light should dominate the key-light, but rather assist to create the mood you have set with the key light. Typically, female portraits will have a less contrasty ratio; i.e. 1:2 or a 1:3 ratio. In other words, the shadow areas will be 2 times or 3 times weaker than the highlights. Typically, with male portraits, this ratio may be more; like 1:4 or 1:5. In other words, the shadows may be 4 or 5 times weaker than the brighter areas.

Separation between Background and Subject..

In photography, there is various ways to create separation between foreground subjects and the background, such as contrasty colours, depth-of-field, or by using light. This may be the one area where inexperienced portrait photographers falter most of the time.

Typically, the subject should stand out from the background and there should be a clear-cut line between subject and background. There are several ways to employ this by using light. I.e having your background toned down. You may for example, turn a white background into a grey one, by making your subject to stand at least 9 feet away from the background and allow minimum light spill to get to the back. In this way, a white background may come out grey, which typically works for fashion-like portraits. You may therefore underexpose your background by minus 1-2 stops against your subject. Then also, if you choose to use colour or shallow depth-of field to isolate your subject from the background, you may overexpose the background. I.e. by having a light firing at  a grey background, and overexposing it by 2 stops; it may come out perfectly white . If your subject wears a red dress or have dark features, they will stand out against that perfectly bright background.

However, an even greater method is by using a “kicker” light to shoot your subject from out the background. In this way, the kicker light creates a halo-like rim (contre-jour) against the subject’s form. In this way, the colour of your subject’s clothing does not really matter. On many occassions, I have on purpose used a white shirt against a white background. You may even use a black dress against a dark background and still come out tops with definite separation between your subject and background.

• View more of the workshop’s images via Danie’s Facebook profile
• If you’re interested in doing any of our Lighting Workshops or need more information about it. Click HERE…