Capturing the perfect lighting patterns for your subjects face can and will make or break an image. But, not to worry, learning lighting basics is easy.
You'll not want to be fixing all your photos in Photoshop. The time involved would kill any profit potential.
To avoid all those hours fixing mistakes, you'll need to know some basic patterns and techniques for controlling light. Try this...
Rather than just shooting away, you will need to know the basic lighting and shadow patterns.
Closed loop, Open loop, Butterfly, Renaissance, Split light, Narrow light, Broad light
The best part is, all this knowledge can be gotten for free! All you need to do is visit the photo section in your local library. There are plenty of books that will describe what each of these patterns look like and how to create them. Take a ton of notes, you will want each of these in your repertoire. Each one tends to be the best pattern for certain effects and faces.
Now, go home and - leaving your camera in the bag - let's do some experimenting.
Using your kids (or borrow the neighbors' kids) have one of them sit in a chair in a darkened room and with a flashlight as your only lighting source, learn where, in relation to the head, the light has to be positioned to achieve each of those patterns. Make detailed notes and draw little diagrams in a notebook you can carry with you.
At this point we are concerned with the angle of the light.
Then, once you've figured where the light has to be to create each of the patterns, now start moving the light closer and further back. What does that do to the intensity and length of the shadows?
Try diffusing the light by covering it with a piece of tracing paper or some other transparent material. See what that does to the shadows? It's the same as a cloud moving between your subject and the sun.
This is called your main light. Have one of the kids hold the light in place and add a second flashlight to the mix. Try putting it where the camera would be. This is your fill light. What happened to your lighting pattern? How about the shadows? Move the light closer and further back. What changes?
Move your subject closer to and further from the wall. What happens to the shadows on the background with 1 light? What about 2 lights?
A willing model, a few flashlights and a couple hours of experimenting should answer all your lighting questions and make you a much better photographer. Make notes.
Now that we know how many lights we need and where they have to be to create the lighting patterns you are looking for, now all we have to do is duplicate that on scene.
Let's make the sun our main light. Practice positioning your model at various angles to the sun - to learn how to create the same patterns you were making before. To get the angles, intensity and color of light you want, you may have to adjust the time of day for your experimentation.
If the look you are after calls for 1 diffused light, (remember our tracing paper experiments?) position a diffusion screen of some sort between your model and the sun.
You could use a white sheet, a piece of translucent white silk or you could buy a commercially produced diffusion screen. Or you could go really high tech and use the shadow of the nearest tree to diffuse the light.
If you want a pattern that calls for two lights, use the sun as a main light and your on camera flash as the fill. If diffusion is needed, tape tracing paper over the light. Two layers of paper for additional diffusion.
With only a few hours invested you can dramatically improve your photography and be better at lighting than most anyone else in your area.
Interestingly, with this little experiment, you will be more proficient at lighting than most professionals. If you want to turn that knowledge into a nice full or part time income, check out the links in my resources file... - 15437
You'll not want to be fixing all your photos in Photoshop. The time involved would kill any profit potential.
To avoid all those hours fixing mistakes, you'll need to know some basic patterns and techniques for controlling light. Try this...
Rather than just shooting away, you will need to know the basic lighting and shadow patterns.
Closed loop, Open loop, Butterfly, Renaissance, Split light, Narrow light, Broad light
The best part is, all this knowledge can be gotten for free! All you need to do is visit the photo section in your local library. There are plenty of books that will describe what each of these patterns look like and how to create them. Take a ton of notes, you will want each of these in your repertoire. Each one tends to be the best pattern for certain effects and faces.
Now, go home and - leaving your camera in the bag - let's do some experimenting.
Using your kids (or borrow the neighbors' kids) have one of them sit in a chair in a darkened room and with a flashlight as your only lighting source, learn where, in relation to the head, the light has to be positioned to achieve each of those patterns. Make detailed notes and draw little diagrams in a notebook you can carry with you.
At this point we are concerned with the angle of the light.
Then, once you've figured where the light has to be to create each of the patterns, now start moving the light closer and further back. What does that do to the intensity and length of the shadows?
Try diffusing the light by covering it with a piece of tracing paper or some other transparent material. See what that does to the shadows? It's the same as a cloud moving between your subject and the sun.
This is called your main light. Have one of the kids hold the light in place and add a second flashlight to the mix. Try putting it where the camera would be. This is your fill light. What happened to your lighting pattern? How about the shadows? Move the light closer and further back. What changes?
Move your subject closer to and further from the wall. What happens to the shadows on the background with 1 light? What about 2 lights?
A willing model, a few flashlights and a couple hours of experimenting should answer all your lighting questions and make you a much better photographer. Make notes.
Now that we know how many lights we need and where they have to be to create the lighting patterns you are looking for, now all we have to do is duplicate that on scene.
Let's make the sun our main light. Practice positioning your model at various angles to the sun - to learn how to create the same patterns you were making before. To get the angles, intensity and color of light you want, you may have to adjust the time of day for your experimentation.
If the look you are after calls for 1 diffused light, (remember our tracing paper experiments?) position a diffusion screen of some sort between your model and the sun.
You could use a white sheet, a piece of translucent white silk or you could buy a commercially produced diffusion screen. Or you could go really high tech and use the shadow of the nearest tree to diffuse the light.
If you want a pattern that calls for two lights, use the sun as a main light and your on camera flash as the fill. If diffusion is needed, tape tracing paper over the light. Two layers of paper for additional diffusion.
With only a few hours invested you can dramatically improve your photography and be better at lighting than most anyone else in your area.
Interestingly, with this little experiment, you will be more proficient at lighting than most professionals. If you want to turn that knowledge into a nice full or part time income, check out the links in my resources file... - 15437
About the Author:
Earning a good income - with a photography job - is easier than you may suspect. When you are ready to live the life others only dream about, getting freelance photo jobs and experiencing the thrill of being your own boss, the next step is to click one of these links and let me show you how...
