This was our first time in the lighting studio as a group and proved to be a lot of fun, we learn about the setup and deconstruction of the lights in the studio.
Setting up the studio lights we a tripod stands to sit spotlights on top. While we wer in the studio we got to use a range of lighting attachments, for these photos we used a silver reflective dish attachment on our muse
Photo 4187 was a test shot using a light meter to calibrated the camera’s setting, set for a shutter speed of 125, and an iso of 100. The reading showed to shoot at f5.6 but was slightly overexposed, increasing the aperture will solve this. Alternately making adjustments in Photoshop using curve tools and brightness settings might solve this but mean I would have to edit each photo from the shoot, it’s better to get the lighting and aperture correct first time.
Photo 4192 adjusting the aperture to f/8 solved the lighting issue it meant the camera was accepting less light through the lens. we could have also altered the power of the lights, making the dimmer to correct this but that would require taking another light reading. Using the reflective dish created soft shadows on our white backdrop
Photo 4212 moving on from the reflective dish we used a snoot with a honey combe attachment to concentrate the light on the face of our muse, dimming the lights amplified this effect displaying how the light plays and reflect on the surface of our muse, shows the whites of the shirt absorb more than the face. Noting how the nose blocks light from reaching the eye on the right, appearing mostly balck and showing little information.
Photo 4215 we can see this again, asking our muse to turn their head slightly, the light clips over the nose lighting the right eye hinting to information on the other. Without a reflector on the right side, we are able to get this effect as there is nothing on the right side to bounce the back to muse, casting this stong shadow.
Photo 4219, shows the same but with a reflector on the right this time, bouncing the light back to our muse, lighting the other side providing information while only using one studio light set up
This can be seen in photos 4228 and 4230, but with the addition of a low powered bishops hat attachment aimed at the backdrop adding a gentle backfill light giving context to the location of the shoot.
Photo 4239 introduces a second studio light with the use of a softbox, removing the snoot takes away this focus on the face and gives a more general appearance with softer lighting and shadows, 4240 shows this as well
4243, provides a similar look going as far to remove shadows cast behind my muse
4246 introduces foil gels, a piece of colored film to go over the light to change the pure white light. Here we have used a combination of blue and pink on each of the lights to give this affect. Though you can see this over powers the subject altering all of the light hitting the muse, maybe this would have been better if only one light was covered to provide clarity and definition, i also feel the exposure here could come down slightly.
4250 opting for a yellow foil the same thing can be seen. Because there is no white light hitting our muse the whole photo appears yellow, this effect may have its place somewhere in photography but making it seem imprudent, something a lot more subtle might be desirable. 4259 shows the same but using green foils
4263 shows my muse as a silhouette by lighting the background with a blue foil and removing one of the spotlights, this creates a strong contrast between the negative space.
4285 aims to resolve the issues in 4250 by introducing a white spotlight pointed at our muse and pointing a blue foil at the backdrop, this shows clarity as we can make out the tones and colors of our use.
4286 expands on this placing the blue foiled light slightly further away than before for a less intense effect, and includes a second spotlight with a partially covered light with an orange foil to give warmth to our muse in contrast to the blue.
Alex's Photos & Thoughts 