Making a single studio light work
Studio lighting is easier to learn if you start with a single light. After all in nature there is only one light you can use; the sun. So it is what you do with it that counts. More lights can just complicate the issue. It is a fact of life that in the studio it is better to have more reflectors than more lights when photographing women. Once the possibilities of the single light are mastered extra lights can then be added if you need them.
Previous workshops have shown alternative ways of using the single light to alter the quality of its output. Here a single light in a small soft box is being used in a way that gives it even more scope than just providing your subject with light from the front. The diagram shows how to use a single light to perform a number of tasks. This set up will provide a hair light, brighten the background and, via reflectors, the lighting for a face when taking a head and shoulder picture. The fact that the model’s face is lit solely by reflected light is a bonus. Reflected light is very kind to human skin. The important thing is to place the light just out of shot as close to the background as possible. It will then shine over the subject’s shoulder and down onto the reflectors that are placed around her.The position of the third reflector is indicated by the black dotted line on the illustration. The intensity of the light of the face can be adjusted by the amount of light you allow to fall on the reflectors. The closer they are to your subject, the stronger the light will be. The finished picture is shown below.
A variation of this technique works well in a small light walled studio or room. In this case by using a white background, the one light is directed at that. Now your model will either be a near silhouette or again can be lit by the reflected light from the front. This can come both from reflectors and the light that bounces around the room. This works well if you are photographing a complete figure. It is all a question of getting the exposure right in the camera. If you are using a digital camera then there is no problem as you can check your results instantly and make any necessary adjustments to get the effect you want.
Examples
This shot was taken using the set-up described above. It is a basic portrait which because the subject had dark hair has benefited from the light falling on it. The light stand was placed almost touching the background. The girl sat about 1.5m in front of it. The three reflectors moved as close to her as possible without showing in the shot. Had she been blonde it would have been necessary to take care that the highlights did not blow. So the camera exposure would have to be correct and the light only allowed to skim the subject’s head as its full force falls on the reflectors in front.
Same set-up as previous shot but the girl is now a little nearer the background. The light coming from behind is used to light the side of her face as well as her hair. The reflectors have been move even closer so the lighting on her face is brighter. This was done to reduce the overall contrast between the side lighting and the rest of her face.
Now the single light is directed at the white background in this figure study. It was in fact angled slightly towards the wall at the side as well. The usual reflectors were placed in front of the subject; one on each side of the camera. Because the studio was small a great deal of light bounced around the room which helped to produce the soft lighting effect. Again by varying the use of reflectors or even not using them, the shot could have been turned into a near silhouette. It might have also been necessary to cover a reflector with some dark cloth so that it absorbed light rather than reflected it.
