Beginner Studio Photography

kam1

kam1

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kamran
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Hi everyone.
I've just started a mini course in studio photography and looking to enhance my knowledge of photography and hopefully learn some new skills. however I was curious to know what are the basic fundamentals to studio photography. Am I right in saying its all about he lighting and position of the lights. If this is the case what should I be doing?
Can someone shed some more light into this :P
 
lighting is photography, flat out. Without light, there is no photography.

As long as you have access to youtube and possibly invest in some books - there is nothing like learning it for yourself. If you can afford bigger/better lights from the outset, then I would suggest going for those, but if this is something you're not quite sure you will be getting into, then go cheap. A light is a light at the end of the day (though cheap does usually mean a huge drop in quality as far as robustness and power output, so spend what you can). Modifiers are a different story, getting lights with a standard modifying fitment (bowen S fitments for example) will open up a larger world of lighting modifiers that you can utilise in the future.

Start with one good light , a softbox for diffusion and maybe a reflector (to give you additional light, from a different direction) if only one light is all you can afford. There are plenty of online tutorials where you can create quite dramatic effects with just one light. You can then build up from there.

Get on youtube, search for "one light photography" there are lots of fantastic tutorials on there.

Get to your local library and get some photography books on lighting. Practice, understand and practice some more.
 
kam1 said:
Am I right in saying its all about he lighting and position of the lights?
Click to expand...

It's all about conveying what you intend to convey, whether that's a clean product shot or an emotionally charged nude.

Light is fundamental to all photographs, and understanding or exploiting the light you have available is a key skill, as are focusing and composition.

It's just that studio photography adds a larger degree of control to the lighting and the positioning of the subject, and a great number of extra variables for you to manipulate. So yes - without understanding what lights to use and how you won't get very far, but knowing how to use the lights won't make a great shot on it's own.

I'll suggest two sources of info before someone else does:
strobist101.com
Light Science & Magic
 
Three key underlying fundamentals of studio lighting are these:

- The larger the light source, the softer the shadows. Size is relative to distance, so a large light used at greater distance becomes harder, and vice versa.
- Light reduces in brightness much more quickly than you think. It broadly follows the inverse square law that says double the distance is one quarter the brightness - that's a drop of two stops.
- Light bounces off a surface at the same angle it strikes, like a snooker ball off the cushion.

You will see these principles at work in every studio shot. There are others too of course, but these are the most significant :)
 
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cheers guys just needed a starting point. Like I said I've started a course in studio photography and wanted some basic effects how to create them to have as a starting point.
 
Hi Kamran,

loads of information and tutorials available on youtube, etc. and excellent advice already given to you.

Just to give you a heads up, Lindsay Adler, is doing a studio lighting 101 course on creative live at the moment. It lasts for 4 days (2 days already passed), but is broadcast free, between 5pm and midnight. Would definitely recommend taking a look, even if you can't manage to watch it all. You can, of course, then buy the course but personally, I'm too tightfisted :)

www.creativelive.com
 
johnnypanic said:
Hi Kamran,

loads of information and tutorials available on youtube, etc. and excellent advice already given to you.

Just to give you a heads up, Lindsay Adler, is doing a studio lighting 101 course on creative live at the moment. It lasts for 4 days (2 days already passed), but is broadcast free, between 5pm and midnight. Would definitely recommend taking a look, even if you can't manage to watch it all. You can, of course, then buy the course but personally, I'm too tightfisted :)

www.creativelive.com
Click to expand...

Highly recommended at that price! I like Lindsay Adler's teaching style a lot.
 
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