Post on 22-Dec-2015
Times
• 09:30 The Studio & Equipment• 10:00 Metering & Exposure• 10:30 Break• 11:00 Equipment & Metering Practical• 12:30 Lunch• 13:30 Light shapers demo• 14:00 Light shapers prac• 15:30 Afternoon tea• 16:00 foreground / background intro• 16:30 foreground / background practical• 17:30 finish
Flash Equipment• Why use flash & studio?
– Light control & versatility, heat, price, reproducibility, cost, comfort, accessibility, time.
• Demo of a single flash unit in operation.• What is a flash unit & what are its settings.
– Power, modelling lamp, sync, cell mode, discharge, on/off.• How do I measure flash power?
– W/S & f-stops• The other equipment
– Standard reflectors, umbrella’s, soft boxes, beauty dishes, barn doors, snoots, speed rings, grids, gels
– Sync cables, pocket wizards, – Mono block, packs, battery packs (pro 7b), sync cord– Gaff tape, safety, power leads
Equipment Brands
• Profoto* www.profoto.com L&P Photo..• Broncholor* www.broncolor.com Sun Studios• Elinchrom www.elinchrom.com Kayell• Interfit www.interfitphotographic.com Vanbar, Dragon Image• Bowens* www.bowens.co.uk Vanbar• Briese www.briese-studios.de Briese
price, performance, support* industry standard
Lighting Kits• Affordable beginners packages
• Bowens, Broncholor offer a ranges.
• Kits can provide lighting or lighting accessories
• Prices from $2000 - $5000
Bowens 2 x 500w/s Kit• 2 of Gemini 500Ws Monolights.• 1 of 60x80cm Softbox.• 1 of 90cm Silver/White Umbrella.• 1 of 120d Wide-Angle Umbrella Reflector.• 2 of Lighting Support Stand.• 1 of Trolley Case.• 2 of Flash Tube.• 2 of 250W Modeling Lamp.• 2 of Power Cord.• 1 of Sync Lead. - $2000
Camera & Exposure• The Camera Histogram &
Exposure …• RHS data = whites• MID data = greys• LHS data = blacks
• Lets check everyone’s histogram…
The Meter
• Metering modes & settings– Ambient reading – Flash with sync cable– Flash without sync– Setting ISO etc– Shutter Speed
Basic Light Theory• Demonstration distance & shadow, light quality & light shapers.• Light always travels straight• Light has colour temperature (warm / cold etc) measured in Kelvin
– (white balance)• Light quality;
– Size of light source, distance of light source, type of reflector & shape of reflector & surface
– The smaller the light source, the harder the shadow.– The smaller the light source, the smaller the specular highlights– The softer the light source, the less contrast in highlights/midtones
• Distance vs power – – Inverse square law
• Light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source
Inverse Square Law
• Move an object from 4 feet away to 16 feet away and you need to increase f-stop from F4 to F16
F16 F11 F8
Light Shapers
• Soft boxes big, small, medium• Beauty Dishes & its diffusers & types• Umbrella’s (silver, white shoot thru)• Standard Reflector• Grid• Snoot• Light Stands• Barn Doors• Gels• Gobo’s• Correct packing & unpacking soft boxes & other shapers• Blacks / Whites / Poly-boards
Foreground / back Lights• Planning Shoot
– Distance to background– Camera F-stop– F-stop of background– F-stop of subject– Light background– Meter Background– Light foreground – Meter Foreground
• Setting up background light with kill spills correctly• Setting up foreground light• Metering correctly
General Studio Tips & Hints
• Plan your shoot – draw the lighting plan out before embarking on a shoot
• Metering correctly can save much photoshop & troubleshooting
• Meter all lights separately then together• Fill cards can replace lights
Times
• 09:00 Clean White Backdrop• 09:30 Multiple Lights intro• 10:00 Multiple Lights Prac• 11:00 Break• 11:15 Multiple Lights Prac• 12:30 Lunch• 13:30 Portrait Lighting Intro• 14:00 Portrait Lighting Prac• 15:00 Break• 15:30 Lighting effects intro• 16:00 Lighting effects Prac• 18:00 Finish
White Background
• Clean 100% white background• Well exposed subject, no spill light• Try different light shapers
– Soft box, beauty dish, umbrellas, std refl. Grid
Multiple Lights• Demonstration & hands-on:
– Multiple foreground lights / light ratios• Key light & fill light & what is a ratio• What should your camera be?• Check the background• Metering correctly
– Filling shadows silver/white cards– Analysing Face– Changing ratio to change contrast– Introduce Hair light
Portrait Lighting Intro• Creating a catch light• Handouts showing broad, short, Rembrandt,
butterfly • Broad Lighting• Short Lighting• Rembrandt• Butterfly• High key• Low Key
Lighting Effects
• Graduated lighting, spots, paper rolls
• Gels incl. 1 or 2
• Fill cards, cutters, gobos, focussed light, modelled light
Hints for obtaining a better image
• Use a grey card for correct white point / colour balance measure• Use Prime Lenses L series where possible
– Or 70-200L F2.8 • Determine optimum aperture for Lens & use if possible• Always use Adobe RGB 98 & RAW mode on Camera• Calibrate Monitor & Printer; Gretag McBeth• 35mm Digital SLR’s will only sync at 1/250 or lower, some only
1/125 or lower• Compensate for lens –overexpose ½ or determine your grey card
reading results.• More Megapixels & bits per pixel & exposing for highlights
Numbers represent roughly how many colour increments are stored around that brightness level.Canon Power-shot – 8bit (up to 256)Canon 1DS Mark II – 12bit (up to 2048)Canon 1DS Mark III – 14bit (up to 8192)Phase One Digital Back – 16bit (up to 32768)JPG image - 8bit (up to 256)
Exposing For Highlights