Photography Blog DigitalPixels.net

In the studio you use a low-key or high-key background to create contrast between the background and the face. Which key is most effective for the background is mostly influenced by the tone of the clothing, which needs to blend into the background so as not to overpower the face in the photo. Outdoors, by manipulating the balance of ambient-to-flash with EC and FEC or manual shutter/aperture and flash power, we can render the ambient-lit background normal (perfect match), darker and low-key (underexposed) or lighter and high-key (overexposed) while retaining normal exposure on the face of the subject

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In the world of fashion and high-end portrait photography, lighting is the key to professional-looking images. Having the ability to control the light that falls on your subject allows you many different ways of expressing an idea photographically. It can also greatly transform the way your subject comes across in a photograph. In this lesson, I will illustrate differences between hard and soft lighting, positioning of light sources and the importance of developing the shot.

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So, we already know that direct flash from your built-in flash gives unflattering results, to say the least. Using your speedlight in the same way won’t change much. I did mention that you can redirect the light by rotating the head of your flash gun and bouncing the light off ceilings and walls but you’re still very limited in your creativity. So what’s a photographer to do? I’ll tell you. Get that speedlight off your camera to unleash its full potential!

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Set the ISO to 400 - this gives you much greater latitude with the strobes.
Set the aperture to f/6.3 as a good starting point. With wide-angle lenses, DOF is not really a problem.
Adjust the shutter speed to expose for the windows. Generally, for a “blown-out” window effect, 1/80th or slower will work. To bring in a view completely, dial up to your camera’s maximum sync speed (usually 1/250th) and only then start stopping down the aperture. Once the windows are exposed properly…

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Lighting and photographing two-dimensional objects such as framed paintings and prints so that they look professionally rendered can be considerably more challenging than in other types of photography. The challenges have mostly to do with lighting issues and camera perspective, but once you're aware of how to tackle the potential hazards of two-dimensional copy work, you'll be surprised at how easy it can be.

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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 gravy. I have lots of lighting, but I break out a single light more often than I get out multiples. Many of you reading this have yet to really get into this lighting stuff, so you probably only have one flash. So it makes sense that the first article where we get into lighting setups would focus on portraits with just a single light.

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The angles of the human face and body people consider visually pleasing are universal regardless of the medium. Movie directors and cinematographers are masters of lighting and facial angles which make the human face appear natural and three dimensional.

They in learned the techniques from the poses and lighting used in paintings by master artists. A knowledgeable photographer can use these same "classic" facial views and poses to great advantage, even in candid situations, to improve the appearance of people they photograph.

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For better or worse, my goal is for this experience to serve as a sort of template for how I approach a new lighting technique.

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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 computer screen is natural and three-dimensional. The third dimension in a photograph is created by the contrast between light and shadow.

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This week we are going to look at using one speedlight with no modifications… no umbrellas or softboxes to modify the light, just the bare strobe. This can sometimes seem like pretty harsh light, but there ways to use the single light that can create a very modern, clean and sometimes become almost not noticeable.

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