LA: Studio Lighting part 2 (week 23)

Question 2:

1. 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
  

2. 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 have searched the web for the images used in this answer.

Fashion photo:

This photo is from Alexis Breugelmans photography’s online portfolio.

In this shot I think the photographer has used a softbox (with a grid) as key light, an umbrella reflector or another soft box as a fill light. A backlight is used to light the background.

 

Beauty:

This photo is from pexels.com

Here it looks like to me that there they have used a softbox or a beauty disk as a light source with no back/separation light.

Portrait

This portrait is from unsplash.com

 

 

In this portrait photo I think the photographer have uses a strong key light on one side and a slightly lower fill light on the other side to create a little texture. There could be to softbox ligths or or one softbox and another light as a key light. There is also a back light used I belive.

LA: Studio lighting

Question 1:

1. Name three lighting sources and their functions.

2. Name two light modifiers and explain the difference between them.

3. Draw a diagram of and describe the three-point lighting setup.

 

1. Light sources are the sources used to emit light into your scene.

Three examples of light sources.

Key Light: The key light is the main light used to light the subject or model.  The key light is stronger than the other lights used in the photo, it is the main light that defines the light and shadow areas in the picture. It could be a window, a lamp, the sun or any other source of light.

Fill light: The fill light is a softer light source placed a little further away from the subject or model than the key light. It is there to soften the shadows and contrasts made by the key light.

The Back Light: The back light is used to give the picture more depth, or to create a sharper separation between the subject or model and the background. It is also called separation light, because it separates the subject from the background, or hair light because it can be use to light up the model from the back lighting up their hair creating a halo effect.

2. Light modifiers: Modifiers are anything you use to hold in front of – or attach to- the light source. They modify the way the light hits the subject or model.

Two examples of modifiers

Softbox: A softbox is a box placed in front of the light. It softens and spreads the light.

Snoot: A snoot is conical shaped tool that narrow the distribution of light. It can be used to create a focused and harsh light, snoots are commonly used as back light or as a spot light.

 

3. The 3 point light setup:

The 3 points in the setup are the Key light, the fill light and the back light/separation light.

The key light in the scene I have drawn is a window, it is strongest and the closest to the model that you can see in the middle.

On the other side you can see the lap that operates as a fill light for the shot. It is placed furter away from the model and is placed so that it fills in and softens the sharp shadows created by the key light.

Behind the model there is a backdrop, this is the background of the shot. The background could also be a wall or something else. Between this backdrop and the model the back light/separation light is placed.