Now you are ready to employ these
basic portrait light setups yourself
Basic portrait
light setups
You might find you are already familiar with
(and are using some of) these setups without
the label, which is great. Once you become
familiar with them as basic principles, it’s
always good to break the rules and experiment
by moving and altering your light. For me, a
successful portrait is one
that feels right, and it’s
less important that I can
technically break it down.
But before you get busy
undoing the rules, it’s a
great experience to learn
the structure.
These examples can
be employed in portrait
photography no matter
what the location. Of course,
a studio can be anywhere, from a plain
background of coloured paper or fabric in
your front room to a hired studio or a location
outside. The important thing we are looking at
here is the use of only the light we can control
in the image, meaning that any ambient light
is eliminated. I regularly mix flash and ambientlight to create balanced images, but here we’ll
deal with only the light we have control over.
The best way to start with these setups is to
begin with what I term a ‘black screen’– that is,
without the use of flash, the camera captures
an entirely black image. I typically check I have
this by turning all ambient
light off (where this is
possible), closing blinds if
required, and setting my
ISO, aperture and shutter
to create a black image. I
find that starting with a low
ISO of 100 will generally
allow me to shoot at a
wider aperture, within flash
sync speeds of around
1/250sec. However, this
alters on a shoot-by-shoot basis.
The best thing to do is take a test shot, but
make sure you are able to eliminate any light
that might creep into the image as ambient
light changes, for example sun from a window
that might add light as the sun rises or moves
in and out of cloud.The thing we
are looking at
here is the use
of only the light
we can control
Below
Coloured backgrounds
If the studio background is an
important part of your image, make
sure that it’s as well lit as your subjectRight
Black backdrop
For a pure black tone around your model,
the camera needs to capture no light other
than what you introduce in the form of flashTECHNIQUES
Nowyouarereadytoemploythese
basicportraitlightsetupsyourself
Basic portrait
light setups
Youmightfindyouarealreadyfamiliarwith
(andareusingsomeof)thesesetupswithout
thelabel,whichisgreat.Onceyoubecome
familiarwiththemasbasicprinciples,it’s
alwaysgoodtobreaktherulesandexperiment
bymovingandalteringyourlight.Forme,a
successfulportraitisone
thatfeelsright,andit’s
lessimportantthatIcan
technicallybreakitdown.
Butbeforeyougetbusy
undoingtherules,it’sa
greatexperiencetolearn
thestructure.
Theseexamplescan
beemployedinportrait
photographynomatter
whatthelocation.Ofcourse,
astudiocanbeanywhere,fromaplain
backgroundofcolouredpaperorfabricin
yourfrontroomtoahiredstudiooralocation
outside.Theimportantthingwearelookingat
hereistheuseofonlythelightwecancontrol
intheimage,meaningthatanyambientlight
iseliminated.Iregularlymixflashandambientlighttocreatebalancedimages,butherewe’ll
dealwithonlythelightwehavecontrolover.
Thebestwaytostartwiththesesetupsisto
beginwithwhatIterma‘blackscreen’–thatis,
withouttheuseofflash,thecameracaptures
anentirelyblackimage.ItypicallycheckIhave
thisbyturningallambient
lightoff(wherethisis
possible),closingblindsif
required,andsettingmy
ISO,apertureandshutter
tocreateablackimage.I
findthatstartingwithalow
ISOof 100 willgenerally
allowmetoshootata
wideraperture,withinflash
syncspeedsofaround
1/250sec.However,this
altersonashoot-by-shootbasis.
Thebestthingtodoistakeatestshot,but
makesureyouareabletoeliminateanylight
thatmightcreepintotheimageasambient
lightchanges,forexamplesunfromawindow
thatmightaddlightasthesunrisesormoves
inandoutofcloud.Thething we
arelooking at
hereis theuse
of onlythe light
we cancontrol
Below
Coloured backgrounds
If the studio background is an
important part of your image, make
sure that it’s as well lit as your subjectRight
Black backdrop
For a pure black tone around your model,
the camera needs to capture no light other
than what you introduce in the form of flashTECHNIQUES