Master Lighting with the Lighting Asylum

Lighting Asylum 1
“Not just another ‘place

your lights here’ tutorial.”
The Lighting Asylum

Lighting Asylum 3
Contents
Section I
Page 6 Introduction Page 65 Flash to Subject Distance
Page 14 Understanding your equipment Page 70 ISO
Page 25 Understanding your craft
Section II
Page 34 Introduction to lighting
Page 44 Softness of Light
Page 50 Aperture/f-stop
Page 54 Shutter Speed
Page 62 Flash Power
4 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 5

Introduction
My love affair with light!
Why do I do what I do? Because I love it! I love the fact The Lighting Asylum has been designed to be hands-on; providing immediate and
that I can speak without ever uttering a sound through measurable improvement in your photography. It is also designed to give inspiration;
my photographs. For me, a picture IS worth a thousand thus it works well for all skill levels.
words.
Learning about lighting with strobes, speed lights of other artificial sources is some-
I love the challenge of creating something that causes thing many photographers avoid. There is no question that achieving proper photo-
people to stop for a moment and think. These days, I nev- graphic lighting can be difficult. While learning the technical aspects it is easy to get
er worry about who likes or doesn’t like my work. frustrated with the results, but trust me, the payoff is well worth the effort.
It’s been said that you should be afraid when people

have no opinion of your work. When people seem neutral
to your images, it probably means you are merely taking
pictures; and not creating them.
Over the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching
and inspiring thousands of photographers through the
Look Photographic Workshops (lookpw.com), we provide
both workshops where we teach photographic concepts
and location model workshops where photographers can
put their skills to the test, building their portfolios with
amazing photos.
There are many factors in creating a stunning photo: lo-

cations, models, and the concept itself. But, the most
important of all is lighting.
How do I light the scene? How do I use the tools that I

own to create exciting lighting?
The Lighting Asylum is designed to give you the tools and

confidence to move your photography to the next level.
If you will take the time to apply the principals presented Proper lighting is something that must become second nature. Learning it takes
here, I am certain your photography will significantly im- work, but you have already proven that you have what it takes to improve. That’s
prove. why you are reading this book. So, let’s get started…

So you want to be a photographer?
Is creativity something you’re born with? Absolutely not. True creativity is the
People ask me all the time, “What does it take to become a ability to take what everybody has already done and putting your own unique
professional photographer? How do I take this hobby I love spin on it; simply doing it better. We all can be creative, but to do so takes
and make money?” I wish there was an easy answer. Often, work; a lot of work. As photographers, we’re artists. We see things different-
the person asking this actually has the cart before the horse. ly. When I look at a scene I see in my mind’s eye what the finished photo will
Too many aspiring professional photographers attempt the look like, not simply how it looks to the naked eye.
profession without first learning the basic fundamentals of the
craft. If you’re having difficulty envisioning the finished product, don’t worry, just
keep shooting! Take enough photos and it will become second nature. It
Make no mistake, it take’s a keen business sense to run a suc- took me two years to acquire the ability to inherently make the right decision
cessful photography business, because it involves much more about whether to shoot a photo vertically or horizontally.
than simply taking professional photographs. Acquiring the
necessary equipment; arranging shoots; establishing a studio; Learn to look at things with “inquisitive eyes”. I swear my family thinks I’m
and marketing your unique talents, are but a few of the skills crazy. As I said, I take pictures of everything! So it follows that my wife and
you will need to acquire before you can consider yourself a kids ask me all the time, “Why in the world did you take
professional photographer. Still, the most important aspect, that picture?” Invariably, the answer is that I simply wanted to see what it
is the ability to consistently produce high-quality profession- would look like. This is what creativity is really all about; passion for your
al pictures that distinguish you from the tens of thousands of craft.
“aspiring” professional photographers out there. To take con-
sistent professional photographs requires a firm grasp on that Trust me, no one will ever hire you based on what you say
magic component, lighting. you can do, or what you think you can do. They will hire you based on what
you’ve already done. Keep that in mind because the creative person doesn’t
I was taught photography by my good friend John, a profes- wait around for a paycheck and then create something, they create some-
sional photographer for the past thirty-five years. When he thing amazing and the paycheck finds them.
agreed to take me under his wing, John told me I needed to
shoot 10,000 images before I would even start to understand
what happens with light. That was back in the days of pro-
cessed film, purchased one roll at a time. In the digital world
the number is more like 100,000 photos!
So what is my advice to you? It can be summed up in two

words… shoot everything!!!
When asked why he painted something a certain color, Picasso

said, “If I don’t have red, I use blue”. I say, “If I don’t have a per-
son, I shoot an animal; if I don’t have an animal, I shoot a flow-
er; no flowers, then I shoot a local landmark”. In other words,
the more you shoot, the more things take on a new meaning.
As you develop the discipline of shooting everything in sight,
you will begin seeing creatively.

Mossbrae Falls, Dunsmuir, California
ISO 200 f22 @ 1 sec.
RIGHT NOW! TAKE IT FURTHER!
START SHOOTING
Here’s what I want
you to do. Grab your
camera right now
and go for a walk, in
your neighborhood,
drive to your favor-
ite trail, or maybe to
the center of your
town. Every time you
see something that
is even remotely de-
serving of a photo, “ Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri
take the picture! Then Cartier-Bresson
I want you take it five Find a mentor
or six more times, ex-
When I was just starting out, I used to take a USB drive
cept each time take it
over to my friend John’s house each week of my favorite
from a different angle,
photos from the week. He would then go through them
take it from up high,
and REALLY critique them. John would ask me questions;
down low, tip your
“Why did you cut this off?”, “Why did you not move just
camera... I don’t care
five feet to the left and get this out of your background?”,
how they look. When
“Is this really a horizontal photo?”. He would comment
you get home take a
on exposure, cropping, give compositional suggestions; I
minute and critique
mean he really critiqued my photos.
your composition,
then your exposure,
Do you really want to get better? If you do, find someone
and then pick the best
you trust to critique your photos, someone who will be
photo and print it out
honest and objective. Don’t think of of their comments as
and hang it up some-
criticism but as suggestions on how to make better pho-
where that you have
tos. If you want someone to tell you that your photos look
to see it everyday for a
wonderful then skip the steps above and just show them
week.
I guarantee that if you keep looking at a good photo for to your mother... Mom loves everything you do.
a week you will start coming up with ways to make the
photo better! After a week shoot that same favorite photo Believe it or not I still run photos past John and I still ex-
again and be surprised at it’s improvement. Great photos pect him to point out something that I can improve on!
require thought... And guess what? Ten out of ten times, he’s right!

Understand your equipment
I don’t know about you, but I have never gone to a live Listen, equipment is important, but knowing how to use
concert and started obsessing over what brand of instru- it what you already have is even more important. Mas-
“Stop worrying ment the musicians were using? I doubt you have either. ter what you own, then add to it. In the end, you’ll save
aboutwhat you If you are real fan, you’re impressed with the skill of the yourself a lot of money, while taking better pictures at the
don’t have. Mas- musician, not the brand of the equipment. So why, as same time. By understanding and mastering your equip-
photographers, do we obsess over what equipment oth- ment, you can focus one hundred percent of your efforts
ter what you al- ers are using? on the things that really matter—important things …like
ready own.” lighting.
In part, I think the answer is that we can always use the
excuse that our pictures would be far better if we just had
better equipment.
No question, the most important piece of equipment is

your camera. Your camera should be an extension of your
arm. Get in the habit of putting your camera in your hand
as often as possible. Learn every button and every feature.
We live in a great age, a time when we can simply Google
a question or search most any topic on YouTube, and have “ You’ve got to push
the answer in seconds. yourself harder. You’ve
got to start looking for
The time to learn your camera is whenever you have free pictures nobody else
time. For me, at home on the couch watching a movie is could take. You’ve got
perfect. I must admit though, my wife hates it when we to take the tools you
sit down to watch a movie, and I have one eye on the TV have and probe deep-
and one on the camera manual. It’s even worse when I er.” – William Albert
do this at the dinner table. The bottom line is that during Allard
a shoot is not the time to learn your camera.

The next most im-
portant pieces of
equipment are your
lenses. What do you
really know about
each lens in your bag?
You should be able to
look at a scene and
immediately know
which lens will work
best, and why. Select-
ing a lens has more to
do with backgrounds “When you approach
and facial distortion Do you need a wide angle? Do you want to see every- a location take a good
than it is does with thing? Do you want to make the mountains look far away? look at your fore-
what you can fit into This is what it looks like at 7mm. ground and back-
the photo. ground, and then
decide whether you
Sometimes we need want to compress it
our subjects framed or expand it.”
with background
elements. The eas-
iest way to accom-
plish this is by simply
switching lenses. By
doing so, we can
arrange our compo-
sitions to accommo-
date our vision.
The two photos to the Or maybe you want to bring everything close. Notice the
right gives a clear pic- same scene now at 300mm we have the ability to move
ture on lens selection. mountains. This photo was taken using a wide lens simply because I
wanted to give a feeling of space, I wanted the model to
look as if she was in the middle of some magicla place
“People look at ordinary stuff all day long, so why not
rather than just along a river bank 50 yards from the larg-
make a picture look extraordinary, and give them some-
est Interstate in California. The number one thing that
thing new to look at.” - Heath Bouffard
comes into my mind when selecting a lens is what do I
want to do to the environment around my subject rather
than how much can I fit into the frame.

Old Sugar Mill, Clarksburg, CA
Lens Selection
“On your next shoot,
why not try using
every lens in the bag?
One of them might
change the way you
look at things!”
Last year I was shooting a band out of New York, Ten Man
Push—the official band of motocross. My first thought
was to throw on a wide angle and get that edgy look so
prevalent in rock photography. Side by side shots like
these always blow
I liked what I got, but come on; these guys are estab- me away. The same
lished, seasoned musicians, not 19 year olds playing out photo, shot with dif-
of somebody’s garage. I wanted to put them in a more ferent lenses make
serious light. that much difference!
Changing lenses can
dramatically change
your shot. The more
you know your lenses,
the more control you
have.
By simply switching to my 200mm lens, I created a shot

with an entirely different mood, using the exact same
location. When placed side by side, notice that the back
edge of the building behind them looks like it is a quar-
ter mile away in the wide shot, while it appears to be only
about sixty feet away in the telephoto shot.

RIGHT NOW!
GRAB YOUR GEAR
10.5mm TAKE IT FURTHER!
I want you to go get
every lens that you
own that fits on your
camera; maybe you
only own one lens, 18mm Are you ready to
that’s fine too. Find challenge yourself? It
someone who will seems that everyone
35mm
pose for you, a fam- who teaches pho-
ily member, friend or tography loves this
your significant oth- exercise, having you
er. Have them stand go out and photo-
somewhere with graph a subject us-
something large off in 50mm ing a fix focal length
the distance, a house, lens. I too love this;
mountains, or even a however they nor-
large group of trees. mally ask you to put
Take a series of por- 85mm on a 35mm or may-
traits all with the sub- be a 50mm lens, I
ject framed the same say that those are
way starting with you way too easy…
widest lens to your 105mm
longest lens like I have
done in the series to Try putting on your longest lens; do you have one that
the right. goes to 200mm? Find a subject, it could be a person
or it could be a building, it really doesn’t matter. I dare
What I want you to say that will either start to notice details or you will be
135mm
see is the effect the standing pretty far away from your subject at 200mm.
lens has on the back- And remember, reading about an exercise is not doing
ground rather than 200mm the exercise!
what it does to our
subject.

Understanding your Craft
We’ve talked about the importance of “getting out there

and shooting,” and we’ve talked about the importance of
A back up plan understanding your equipment. Now, I want to talk a lit-
could be as sim- tle bit about understanding your craft. Like any other art
ple as having a form, photography has rules and principles dealing with
friend on call everything from color to composition. You need to know
things like the rule of thirds.
that will let you
borrow their
camera if some-
thing does go
wrong. “You need to
know the rules
in order to break
One last thing about equipment; them...”
Always have a backup plan. Lights melt down; cameras
fail; lenses get dropped; flash cards mysteriously acquire
write errors, and umbrellas attract wind and float down
the, ah, what was the name of that river again?….
You may live in a perfect little bubble where nothing ever When you understand the rule of thirds, you can use it
goes wrong at the absolute most critical moment, but to your advantage. You can also bend or break it when
for the rest of us, always have a back-up plan. A back-up necessary. Ninety percent of the time the rule of thirds
plan is not simply, “I need to own two cameras.” Howev- governs my photographs …but I live for that other ten
er, that’s not a bad plan. A back-up plan could be as sim- percent!
ple as having a friend on call that will let you borrow theirs
camera if something does go wrong. Think about those photos where they only show half of
a person’s face. By breaking the rule of thirds you can
You might get away with re-scheduling a senior portrait, create real drama. Sometimes, for example when pho-
good luck convincing somebody to re-schedule their tographing athletes in motion, we have no other choice
wedding because your camera quit working. than to frame them smack dab in the center of our frame.

Taken during a live workshop in Williams, CA
www.lookpw.com
Stop being afraid, are YOU holding you back?
Know the Rules
Are you afraid of people?
We’ve all heard the
phrase, “Know the People are just people; even celebrities; even models. In
rules, but never be my professional photographic career I’ve had the priv-
bound by them.” ilege of photographing professional athletes, Olympic
While there’s a lot of gold medalists, top musicians, and even a movie star or
truth in that state- two. Prior to each of these engagements, I found myself
ment, think about this stressing about the shoot and worrying as to how to han-
...would you let a con- dle the subject, only to discover that in every case they
tractor build a house were just regular people. In truth, the sessions were re-
for you if they knew ally no different than a typical high school senior portrait
nothing about con- shoot
struction? Surely not.
At the very least, you

would expect them
Your gear is just stuff;
to know the funda-
tools. Learn how to
mentals of building,
use each piece. Never
and you would prob-
let your gear keep you
ably not let them
from getting the job
anywhere near if you
done. Similarly, never
knew they had never
let your lack of gear
picked up a hammer.
be an excuse.
Said differently, the
best cooks are known
for their cooking skills,
not their cookware!
Are you afraid of location?

Becoming a good photographer takes work. It
takes discipline, and it takes time. If you’re not Never let a location stop you. I cannot begin to tell you
sure don’t be afraid to ask another photogra- how many times I’ve found myself entering a location
pher for help. Take a class; attend a workshop; for a shoot only to find that the lighting was terrible; or
or find others to learn from who can push you non-existent. The fact is, most times you don’t have con-
to the next level. Every great tennis player will trol over the location, so stop worrying about it—just find
tell you that you get better by playing against the best place and shoot!
others who are better, rather than being content
with beating lesser opponents. Photography is
no different: check your ego at the door, and
never stop learning!

“I am responsible for
myself and my family.
I never want my cam-
era to get between
them and me, or to
take me anywhere I
should not be.”
My camera will never stop a war or cure cancer; it’s just

metal and plastic. It’s real easy to take photos that you
might not be proud of later, so always think about how
important that shot is to who you are.
I’m not just talking about photos that some people many
And then lastly, know deem inappropriate, I’m also talking about letting it take
who you are and who me to a war zone.
you want to be. Never
let that small piece of
plastic and metal take
you somewhere you
do not want to go.
I’m happy that there is those that are willing to put them-
selves in harms way to record history, I have three little
kids and I am responsible to them and for me putting my
life at risk is not in their best interest.
Stop being afraid! Don’t let fear hold YOU back!

LIGHTING...

Color of light determines the temperature and feel of the
picture. Mastering proper lighting separates the beginner
from the expert.
We’ve all heard the clichés about creating artificial light, Be honest, have you
but do you really understand what’s going on when that ever encountered a
shutter clicks and the flash fires? situation where you
told yourself “this is
not working; I’ll just fix
it in Photoshop”?
The truth is, we’ve all

been there.
In no way am I anti
Photoshop. I love
Photoshop. It’s my
professional judgment
that shooting it right
is much easier—and
much more appeal-
ing—than re-creating
Remember, it’s always it digitally.
about the light…
Try to do your light-
Here’s the deal: light ing “in-camera”. Don’t
is not only the key to rely on Photoshop. If
creating the profes- you are like me, you
sional photo, it also would much rather
determines the proper hear that “you’re a
exposure. As well, the great photographer;
direction of light sets not that “you’re really
the mood. good at Photoshop”.
Before I cover the main components of flash exposure, “ Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m
let’s talk about why flash is important, and why you must going to take tomorrow.” – Imogen Cunningham
take control of your light.

What is “Bad” light as a general rule?
If you have been a

photographer for any
length of time, then
you know all too well
I also love nat-
that clients never pick ural light, but
good times of day to when somebody
have their pictures tells me their
made. Weddings are
held at high noon; love of natural
high school seniors Bad light is harsh light; that bright, in-your-face, col- light is the rea-
hate getting up early; or-washing light. son they do not
and invariably, family
portraits are wanted at
shoot flashes,
a favorite spot—in full what I actually
sunlight! hear is, “I don’t
know how to use
But that’s okay. That’s
our job, handling bad flash”!
light
Bad light is low light, that dim, barely perceptible light

found at every wedding reception. And…
Remember, in order to make your clients comfortable,

lighting must become second nature to you. You must
consistently demonstrate to them that you are a profes-
sional; that you know what you are doing.
So what does lighting (Flash/Strobes/Reflectors) do for

your photo?
Bad light is high noon; that ugly over-head, sunken
eye-socket creating light. Why learn flash photography when you probably much
prefer natural light?
But we are photographers—the last line of defense!
C’mon, say it with me, “I am not afraid of bad light!” The number one reason: because flash gives you options.

The four main reasons you need to master your flash.
I briefly mentioned that the direction of the light is just as important as the quantity
“if you live in the and quality of light, because it creates three things:
real world the sun
is rarely where it • Detail by illuminating what needs to be seen,
• Depth by separating items in the photograph
needs to be.”
• Dimension by creating layers of light creating a three dimensional appearance.
Flash adds color; it adds contrast; it adds sharpness,

and it allows you to manage what the photo will look
like. Flash tends to saturate color so they really pop.
Because you control the direction of light with a flash,
contrast is greatly improved. Sharpness is added be-
cause you can shoot at higher shutter speeds and freeze
the action to get tack sharp photos. And what do I mean
about having options?
Remember how much I said I love natural light? When

the lighting is just right, you can’t beat the sun as your
source of light, but if you live in the real world, the sun is
rarely where it needs to be. When it is right, turn off the
flash and captures the magic that is natural light. On the
other hand, in the real world, more often than not, the
natural light sucks! During these times, simply switch the
flash on and power through it! You’ve got options!

Trashing the dress in the Yuba river in Northern California
www.lookpw.com - More than just a workshop!
Softness of Light
The softness of light. How often have you heard the light Let’s look at one last shot, taken through an umbrella. No-
is too harsh and you need to soften it? What does that tice that by changing the size of the light we have affect-
even mean? Can you really soften light? Yes you can. As it ed the shadows.
relates to photography, we must understand what makes
up soft light.
The softness of light has nothing to do with how diffused
the light is. What does determine the softness is the size
of the light source. Basically, the smaller the light source,
the harder the light will be. Diffused light can sometimes
trick you into thinking its soft light. Let me show you an
example of why this is.
“Notice how
hard the edge of
the light is in this
If you look at this graphic, you can now see why a small
photo.” light source can never produce soft light. The softness
of light is created by the transition from full illumination
to no illumination. Light only travels in a straight line, it
doesn’t bend or wrap.
This was taken with a bare SB900. Now, notice how soft
the edge of the light is in this next photo. This was taken
with the diffuser that came with the SB900. It looks like
amazing soft light, right? But, look closely at each photo
and you will notice the shadow lines from the object nev-
er change. That’s because we never changed the size of
our light source.
In this graphic you can see that the light is radiating from
a very small point. Because light only travels in a straight
line, no light can reach the back of our subject.

It doesn’t end here. Look what happens as we move the
light source closer. It becomes larger relative to our sub-
ject. Now you can understand what it really means when
you hear the term “wrapping the light.”
Now lets take a look at a larger light source. Understand-

ing that light is radiating from the entire surface of the
light source, you can now see that the light coming from
the edges can start reaching behind our subject.
Take a closer look and notice that the light from the left
side cannot reach as far around our subject on the right
side as the light coming from the right side.
Just to cement this idea in your mind, let’s take a look
again at that small light source. It wouldn’t’ matter how
close or diffused the light was it will never radiate be-
hind our subject and create soft light. That small light
will always remain hard light.
From this point back we're not getting light from both
sides. This is what creates that gradient of light that we
call softness.

There are five basic components, or factors, of flash pho-
tography. These five factors give you a range of exposure
Five components/ control, over both your subject and your background.
Understanding how to use these components in conjunc-
tion with each other is absolutely key if you want to take
variables of flash good, consistent photos. It’s not just about having light;
it’s about having control of the light.
exposure...
If you can grasp

the first two of
these five com-
ponents, “aper-
ture and shutter
speed,” and master
how they work to-
gether; you will be
light years (no pun
intended) ahead
of many who call
themselves profes-
sional photogra-
phers.
“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” - Eudora

Welty

Aperture/f-stop
“Flash happens
at a fraction of
What is aperture? Aperture is an opening or a hole that a second; aper-
allows light to reach your sensor. As an example, take a ture controls the
look at the lens I’m holding in the photo below. Let’s open amount of light
it wide open, to its largest aperture.
falling onto your
sensor.”
Aperture controls the flash exposure on your subject.

Here’s why... If we were in a totally dark room and fired
our flash, leaving our shutter open for 10 seconds, (but
the flash only took a 1/10,000 of a second to fire, and
then be gone), there would be no need to leave our shut-
This is the smallest number, or f-stop, for this lens, which ter open any longer than a 1/10,000 of a second.
is f-stop 1.2. At this point the sensor is getting the most
light that this lens will allow. It would make no difference if I left my shutter open for
10 seconds, or 10 minutes. But, by opening or closing my
aperture, I can control how much of the light I allow to
reach the sensor in that 1/10,000 of a second.
Think of flash like a shotgun blast. When you fire a shot-

gun, pellets leave the gun and start spreading out. There
are no pellets left behind. Once they leave the gun and
pass by they’re gone. Think of light leaving your flash
just like the pellets from the shotgun. Once they leave
Now if we close down our lens to its smallest aperture, and pass, there’s nothing more …and all this happens in a
the f-stop number actually goes up. So at f-16, this lens is 10,000th of a second!
at its smallest aperture. At this point the sensor is getting
the least amount of light that this lens can throw at it. The By controlling the f-stop, you control the exposure of the
only light reaching the sensor is coming through this tiny flash on your subject by controlling the amount of light to
little hole. reach the sensor.

Shutter speed Have you ever
taken a photo
that has a black
bar across it,
Next, let’s talk about shutter speed. Shutter speed is sim- like this? If so,
ply the amount of time the shutter is held open while its because you
you’re taking a picture. Because flash happens so quick-
ly, shutter speed has very little effect on flash exposure. used flash at a
However, it has everything to do with exposing ambient shutter speed
or natural light. higher than your
Ambient light is any continuous source of light. It could
camera’s sync
be the sun; a light fixture, or the head lights of a car. Basi- speed.
cally, it can be any source other than your flash. Ambient Here’s another important consideration per-
light is constant. taining to flash. Your shutter speed is limited to
your camera’s sync speed. In order to under-
stand sync speed, let’s look at how most cam-
era’s shutters work.
“When shoot-
ing with slower All digital SLR cam-
speeds remem- eras have a focal
ber, just because plane shutter. The
focal plane shutter
it looks good is made up of two
on your cam- curtains.
era’s LED doesn’t
mean it’s sharp.” Let’s take a clos-
er look at what’s
going on inside
your camera. Un-
der normal flash
While light from the flash might be gone in a 10,000th of conditions the
a second, ambient light will continue to effect the expo- first curtain opens,
sure long after the flash is gone. Therefore, the longer the exposing your sub-
shutter speed, the brighter the ambient light will be. ject to your sensor.

So remember, you
cannot shoot faster
than your camera’s
sync speed. Once you
The flash fires when the first curtain is fully open. understand how your
The second curtain then covers the sensor. The camera works, you
amount of time required for this process is be- can use shutter speed
tween 1/125 and 1/250 of a second. This will be to take control of the
your camera’s published sync speed. ambient light in your
photographs.
Take a look at your camera’s manual. In all like-
lihood, your camera syncs between 1/200 and
1/250 of a second.
Remember the black bar? If you shoot the same pho-

to faster than your camera’s sync speed, you’re going
to run into problems.
This time when the camera fires, the second curtain

cannot wait for the first to fully open.

RIGHT NOW! 1/60th
FLASH SOMEONE
1/30th
f/4
Now that you are f/5.6

starting to understand 1/15th
Aperture and Shutter With our f-stop locked
Speed let’s put it to- in, start slowing your
1/8th
gether with this ex- shutter speed until
ercise. I want you to you get the ambi-
find a fairly dark room, f/8 ent light the way you
having a couple of want it. Here is the
lamps on would be great thing, as long as
great. Shooting this in f/11 1/4th the distance between
bright daylight will not your subject and
be as visual and the your flash does not
idea is for you to fully change you can move
understand what is all around and create
going on. some great portraits.
f/16
Start with your flash on full power and your camera set to
f/11
manual with the settings: Aperture set at f-5.6 and shutter
1/15th
speed at 1/200. Now take your first picture, it should be
that your subject is blown out and the background fairly
dark. Keep in mind that aperture/f-stop controls the light
on the subject and not the ambient light, so we are first
going to expose our subject, in order to darken our sub-
ject we need to close down our lens (our f-stop number
goes up, for example up to f-8). Keep shooting and clos-
ing your lens until your subject is exposed properly, once
this is done it’s time to fix the ambient light.

Flash Power
You may be asking, “How does flash power play into all If the power on your flash is at 1, or full power, and you
of this? Do I really need to know about flash power? Why want to lose one stop of light, you can decrease the pow-
can’t I just control the stops of light by my aperture?” er to 1/2. One stop equals 1/2 of the light. If you now go
These are all very good questions. By fully understanding down to 1/4 power, you have halved the light again, and
the intricacies of flash power, you increase your exposure reduced another stop.
options.
From a 1/4 you can go to 1/8 power; from 1/8 to a 1/16;
and from a 1/16 to 1/32. Every time you cut the power in
half, you lose another stop of light. Another way to put
it is, if you start at a setting of 1/8 power and needed two
more stops of light, you can simply go from 1/8, to 1/4, to
“Each incre- 1/2. By doing so, you gain two stops of light.
ment—or power
setting—on your
flash is one stop
of light.”
“Flash power is
When learning to shoot with flash, its best to learn with
your flash in manual mode so that you can shoot consis- just one more
tently, with complete control. tool to put in
the professional
photographer’s
tool box.”
See how easy that is? Remember, you can gain or reduce
a stop of light by simply increasing or decreasing your
flash power, rather than messing with your aperture.

Flash to Subject Distance
To fully understand the next component—flash to subject
distance—we need to discuss the inverse square law. The
inverse square law states that an object that is twice the
distance from a point source of light, will receive a quarter
of the illumination.
So what does that mean to you? Every time the distance

between your subject and your light source doubles, you
Here’s a perfect lose two stops of light!!!
example:
I love shooting Let’s take a quick look at what I that means. A while ago, I
shot a band in a parking garage for the purpose of creat-
portraits with my ing an tangible example of how to use the inverse square
aperture set wide law to its best advantage.
open; anywhere
from 2.8 to 5.6.
The problem is
the flash tends
to blow out the
subject at these
wider apertures.
I’ve set up one speed light to demonstrate a practical

By controlling flash power, you can easily turn your flash application of the inverse square law. If I were to meter 2
down to 1/128 power and get all the benefits of flash, col- foot away from my light source it would require my cam-
or, contrast, and sharpness. This is why flash power is so era be set at f-22 in order to be properly exposed at that
important. Again, more options. distance.

If I double the distance to 4 feet, I would lose two stops of
light. My camera would now need to be set at f-11 to be
properly exposed. Double it again, to 8 feet, and my cam-
era would need to be set at 5.6; again two stops less than
it was at 4 feet. Notice that the distance between stops of “Light that is
light is getting larger. close falls off
Remember, much quicker
whenever you’re than light which
working close is farther away.”
to a subject,
moving a light
six inches could One way you can try to fix that is to scrunch everyone
amount to 1 up. The problem with this solution is that it tends to make
people feel awkward and uncomfortable. With what you
whole stop of now know about the inverse square law, you know that it
light. It doesn’t would be much easier to move them back to where there
take much. is less light, but the distance between stops is greater.
Let’s bring in our band and try to expose them correctly
at two feet from our light source. Notice that the person
“A simpler way to
in front is properly exposed, but the person in the back is take advantage
under exposed by more than 2 stops. of flash to sub-
ject distance is
to move the light
closer to add
light and move
it back to take
some away.”
Notice in the final shot there is less than a half stop differ-
ence between the closest band member and the farthest.
What's cool about all of this is you can almost think of
light as having depth of field. The closer you get to your
light source the narrower the depth of consistent light.
Conversely, the further you get from the source of the
light the larger the area of even exposure.

ISO
The last component; ISO, is another way to gain or lose a I know what you’re thinking; “If I go too high on my ISO,
stop of light. ISO controls the sensors sensitivity to light: my pictures will be unusable because of all the noise.”
the larger the ISO number, the greater the sensitivity. As
with flash power, as each time the ISO numbers doubles, You have no reason to high ISO. Here’s my challenge: take
you gain a one stop of light. When you go from ISO 100 our your camera and shoot a series of pictures from your
to ISO 200, that’s one stop; from 200 to 400 is another lowest ISO setting to your highest ISO setting. Are any of
stop; from 400 to 800 …well, you get the idea. the pictures too noisy to use?. You’ll be surprised at just
how clean a file you can get at, even, ISO 1200—if its ex-
posed properly.
“The most import-

ant thing when
shooting with high
Believe ISO is making sure
it or not you are properly
this pho- exposed.”
More often than not to was
you have no control shot
over the amount of at ISO
natural light available. 1600!
If you under-exposed a photograph by 2 stops, and then
Ambient light can
tried to recover these stops in Photoshop or Lightroom,
never stop you from
of course, you’re going to have noise.
making a great photo
and sometimes that
While on an airplane recently, I was reading an article in a
means cranking up
photographic magazine about a prominent Sports Illus-
the ISO...
trated photographer. One sentence in the article changed
my entire thinking on ISO. The writer stated that over
the last few years, he could not remember taking a single
With ISO, we’ve just added another valuable tool to our photograph of a professional sporting event at night with
expanding tool box. The next time the light starts getting an ISO setting less than ISO 3200. I doubt you think of
low, rather than continuing to stop down your lens, sim- Sports Illustrated as a magazine filled with low resolution,
ply increase the ISO. noisy photographs.

Now that we’ve looked at the five components of lighting,
it’s up to you to get out there and master each of them.
Reading about it them in a book, or even watching them
“One final point: in a video, is not the same as getting out there and actual-
ly shooting.
of the five com-
ponents of light-
ing, ISO is the
only one that
affects the entire
exposure.”
ISO raises or lowers both the flash on the subject, and the Yes, flash can be confusing. But, if you stick with it, your
ambient light. Stop fearing it; start using it to your advan- efforts will pay off in spades. As you become proficient
tage. with these techniques, you will find that they get easier
and easier. Soon, you will be amazed at improvement in
your finished work.
“The camera is Outside the studio, I con-

an instrument stantly change my ISO set-
that teaches ting. I do so, because the
lighting in the world around
people how to me is constantly changing.
see without a Even with constant changes
camera.” - Doro- in ambient light, ISO re-
thea Lange mains my best friend.

RIGHT NOW!
Go get your cam-
era right now... Stop TIME TO TEST YOUR GEAR
letting ISO keep you
from getting the most TAKE IT FURTHER!
from your gear. Find
an object near you,
you don’t need any-
thing special. Start at
your lowest ISO set- Okay, here is where
ting, most likely that the rubber meets the
will be between 100 road, how your high
and 200 ISO. Now ISO photo prints out.
keep shooting the ob- I want you to on your
ject and doubling your next photo shoot try
ISO each shot, re- making a good photo
member to keep ad- at least at ISO 2400
justing your exposure and then go have it
each time. The eas- printed out at 11 X 14
iest way to keep the or larger. Why? Most
exposure right is to photographers get
pick an f-stop (I chose hung up on noise, not
f/4) and find the right realizing that unless
shutter speed (my we are planning to
first shot was at 1/10 print a three feet by
of a second) each four feet print than
time you double the noise is not much of
ISO double the shut- an issue.
ter speed to keep the
same exposure. For
example the second With my D300 I know I can shoot up to 1600 ISO before I
shot was at 1/20th, really even start to see real noise. As long as I have the ex-
the third at 1/40th and posure right I recognize the noise as film grain and have
no problem with it, it is to be expected. “There are no rules for good photographs, there
the next at 1/80th.
are only good photographs.” - Ansel Adams

Because you now have many options, you will find that
flash photography is no longer work, but fun. Most im-
portant, you will consistently create photos that are no
longer just snap shots, but real works of art.
The lesson is over! You have reached the end... Close the
book... It’s over!
Find someone who will model for you, there are model sites
online that you can search and find models that will work
with you in exchange for some prints and digital files. Worry
about the light, don’t worry about posing or where to go, you
can simply head to your local park and create great photos.
Now, go out there and take some pictures. Have fun. Get cra-
“ You don’t take a photograph,
zy with your lighting. Get yourself committed to the lighting you make it.” - Ansel Adams
asylum.

LIGHTING ASYLUM
Do you have anything that you are really passionate
about? You know …something that you just cannot not
stop thinking about; something that frequently wakes you
up in the middle of the night?
About fifteen years ago I became passionate about pho-

tography. At first I was like every other amateur photogra-
pher just shooting pictures at random hoping something
would be spectacular. Occasionally I would take a nice
picture, but nothing out of the ordinary. I upgraded my
camera several times and then began adding lenses and
filters. And the pictures certainly got better as I learned
how to properly use each new thing. But still, none of the
pictures were like the ones I saw as I perused the photo-
graphic books and magazines on my regular trips to the
local book store.
I was eager to learn all I could, then one day it hit me. It
was as if a light had gone on in my head that revealed the
missing secret to taking great, professional quality photo-
graphs.
The light that went off was the light itself!
Lighting! That was the secret; the missing ingredient in

my formula. Oh sure, I knew about lights and had read ar-
ticles and watched videos about lighting, but by and large
they all said the same basic thing, “Place your lights here.”
I did that, but there had to be more to it. And believe me,
there is.
I spent the next few years learning EVERYTHING I could

about lighting. Frankly, I was surprised at the limited in-
formation available but gradually I began to put it all to-
gether. Like anything else, once you understand all of the
elements and put them together, fantastic things begin to
happen.
www.lightingasylum.com www.lookpw.com

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Lighting Asylum 1

“Not just another ‘place

The Lighting Asylum

Page 14 Understanding your equipment Page 70 ISO

Page 25 Understanding your craft

Page 44 Softness of Light

Page 54 Shutter Speed

Page 62 Flash Power

4 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 5

It’s been said that you should be afraid when people

There are many factors in creating a stunning photo: lo-

How do I light the scene? How do I use the tools that I

The Lighting Asylum is designed to give you the tools and

6 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 7

So what is my advice to you? It can be summed up in two

When asked why he painted something a certain color, Picasso

8 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 9

12 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 13

No question, the most important piece of equipment is

14 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 15

16 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 17

By simply switching to my 200mm lens, I created a shot

20 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 21

22 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 23

We’ve talked about the importance of “getting out there

24 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 25

At the very least, you

Are you afraid of location?

28 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 29

My camera will never stop a war or cure cancer; it’s just

30 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 31

32 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 33

The truth is, we’ve all

34 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 35

If you have been a

Bad light is low light, that dim, barely perceptible light

Remember, in order to make your clients comfortable,

So what does lighting (Flash/Strobes/Reflectors) do for

38 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 39

Flash adds color; it adds contrast; it adds sharpness,

Remember how much I said I love natural light? When

40 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 41

44 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 45

Now lets take a look at a larger light source. Understand-

46 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 47

If you can grasp

“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” - Eudora

48 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 49

Aperture controls the flash exposure on your subject.

Think of flash like a shotgun blast. When you fire a shot-

50 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 51

54 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 55

Remember the black bar? If you shoot the same pho-

This time when the camera fires, the second curtain

56 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 57

Now that you are f/5.6

58 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 59

62 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 63

So what does that mean to you? Every time the distance

I’ve set up one speed light to demonstrate a practical

64 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 65

66 Lighting Asylum Lighting Asylum 67

“The most import-