Learning Activity – Studio Lighting -week 23

Written Assignment

• Name three lighting sources and their functions.
• Name two light modifiers and explain the difference between them.
• Draw a diagram of and describe the three-point lighting setup.

Lighting sources:

1. Flash: This is a light that comes on at the moment the photo is taken. A flash can be the one the camera is equipt with, an extra flash on top of the camera og a slave flash that lights up the subject from the side.
2. Direct studio lights: These are spots which can be softened with white fabrics or coloured by using filters. They can shine directly at the subject, or:
3. Indirect studio lights where the lights bounches off a reflective serface in order to give a softer light onto the subject.

Light modifiers:

1. Softeners: These are fabrics or similar infront of the light source to soften the light. This can help hide imperfections.
2. Reflective cerfaces: bounces the light from the spot onto the subject in order to soften the light and give a more natural look.

The three point lighting setup:

Research Assignment

• Draw three studio setups for the following subject matters and list all the equipment that you would use to light your subjects:-Portrait-Fashion-Beauty
• In a magazine or on the Internet, find one fashion shot, a beauty shot and a portrait shot and explain how you think the lighting was set up in each shot.

Three studio setups:

I would use two spots reflected back on subject, or two soft boxes

I would use a softbox for the back light and a reflective surface on the right side. My primary light would be a softbox in front.

I would use three spots, reflected off umbrellas. Two behind and on the sides and one in front and above.

In a magazine or on the Internet, find one fashion shot, a beauty shot and a portrait shot and explain how you think the lighting was set up in each shot.

I think this model is lit from the front-left, mainly above. It is a semisoft, strong light.

This beauty shot appear to use an illimunated background to make it pure white. I believe a soft light is placed on either side of her, slightly above. Her darkest point seem to be the center through the very middle of the picture.

I believe this portrait is lit from a window on the left side, creating a soft main light. The light is reflected from the wall she is standing next to, creating a soft secondary light on her right side.

Practical Assignments

Take some portrait shots and pay specific attention to the lighting you use. I would like to see a shot with soft lighting and one with more dramatic, harder lighting. It would be beneficial to hire studio lighting, but if you can’t, you may use natural light, reflectors and your camera’s flash.

Soft:

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I used a soft box on his left side, and reflected light on his right side. I should probably have used two soft boxes in order to make it really soft

Hard:

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I used a reflected light on his right side in order to get a harder shadow on his left side.