"Light ratios are confusing because there is more than one way to describe the difference in intensity between lights and because incident readings used to infer reflected highlight-to-shadow ratios. So first let's start by defining terms:" ...

" Single Flash Limitations : A single direct hot shoe flash regardless of where it is positioned will create sharply defined dark shadows because the size of the lightsource is small and there is no secondary light source to "fill" and mo ...

Natural Lighting Artificial lighting Lighting Angles How many lights do you need? Lighting Ratios Photography is the art of illusion, tricking the viewer into thinking an image reproduced on a two-dimensional piece of paper or a comput ...

Want full control over the light and shadows in your photography? Understanding how light works is necessary, and this paper will attempt to explain how to affect the lighting, shadow quality, and apparent shininess of your subject. The li ...

1) Setup your single light source (It can be a continuous source, a low power strobe or a 100 watt flash). 2) Make sure you use a very large light modifier for your source, such as this homemade light panel, a very large shoot through umbr ...

"Learn how light works to model a 3D face in 2D using window light before spending a lot of money on lighting gear. It costs little beyond your time and will will save you money in the long run because you'll understand intuitively what you n ...

"For a correct exposure you want all the channels in all parts of the photo to be below the point they max out and loose detail. As a starting point you need to set the color balance of the camera to match the color of the light so when a bri ...

" One of the most common approaches in portrait lighting is to use the softest possible light and to maintain good detail in both the highlight and the shadow areas of the photograph. This kind of lighting usually involves more than one light ...

Why start with just one light? Because you can get amazing portraits, that’s why. Did I mention less equipment, less complication, less cost, and less time? Oh, and once you’ve mastered portraits with a single light, using more lights is pure ...

Studio photography is easy because you can get exactly what you want. Studio photography is hard because you can get exactly what you want. Soft light, hard light, hair light, background. Everything is under your control. If you are a tr ...

An important concept to understand when dealing with studio lighting for portrait photography is contrast. Contrast is the difference in the amount of light that falls on the dark areas of a scene and the amount of light that falls on the hig ...

"The physical law of light states that "the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence". The angle of incidence is the angle that light is striking a surface. The angle of reflection is the angle that the light is reflected, or bo ...

Three point lighting is often the best way to create a flattering portrait, shoot a great headshot and make an interview on video look professional. Here is the essence of three point lighting: Key Light This is your primary light source. ...

"The Gray Card is a process control benchmark for color management. Without one our camera, monitor and printer are only as good as our eye's ability to discern color, and our eyes are easily fooled. Absent any external reference our eyes wil ...

The philosophy I have when shooting on pure white is that I want to light the BG and the subject independently from each other. Meaning; The light on the subject isn’t making a change to the exposure on the background and the light on the bac ...