To do this, you’ll need to test your lighting so you know exactly what results
you will get. It sounds so simple—almost elementary—but very few photogra-
phers take the time to test out their lighting completely. When you test your
lighting, you start with your single main-light source and no other lights on.
Place a light-toned (not white) background behind the subject so that you will
not need additional lights for separation. Have all the room lights turned off in
the camera area and the windows blacked out; you must be able toseeyour
light tocontrolit.
Put a test subject in a basic pose and give them a tabletop to lean on so they
don’t get uncomfortable. Ask them to wear a medium-grey top (white fabric
will reflect light up and act as a fill-light source; black fabric will take light away
through subtractive lighting).
Start with your light at a 90 degree angle to the subject, then adjust the
height as discussed on page 43 and take a shot. Put a piece of duct tape under
the main post of your light stand. Then, move the main light six inches closer
to the camera position, leaving it at the same height, and take another shot.
Again, put duct tape on the floor under the center post of your light stand. Re-
peat this procedure until your light box is at least to the 45 degree position, with
all your marks on the floor. (You may want to keep some notes as to the place-
ment of each shot and the order it was in.)
Next, repeat the process—except this time, adding your fill light. If you use
flash, start with a high lighting ratio like 6:1 (the main light three stops greater
than the fill). If you are using reflected fill, start with the reflector at a distance
where you can see very little fill with your eyes. For a silver reflector, this may
be six feet from the subject; for a white reflector this may be four feet from the
subject (but a great deal will depend on how you see). Repeat the testing
process and mark your reflector with a piece of duct tape on the floor. Now,
move your reflector six inches closer and repeat the process, marking the floor.
Continue this until the reflector is one to two feet away from the subject—or
you have gone in half-stop increments down to a 2:1 lighting ratio.
Once you complete this testing with your first test subject, get a second test
subject with the opposite skin tone—meaning that, if you were working with a
dark-skinned person, the second person should be fair-skinned, or vice versa.
Repeat the complete process (which will go faster since the floor is already
marked).
When you have taken all the images, make a print of each test image—a big
enough print that you can really see the lighting. Terrible lighting might be
overlooked in a wallet-size print or even in a larger print where the face size is
small, but with an 8x10, 11x14, or larger print (with a larger face size) you can
easily make the distinction between good lighting and bad.
This series of tests doesn’t provide you with a “lighting by numbers” kit,
but it allows you to set up a range of lighting positions and fill amounts for
46 JEFF SMITH’S GUIDE TO HEAD AND SHOULDERS PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHYPut a test subject
in a basic pose and
give them a tabletop
to lean on...