Book I - Understanding Light My im sto release a series hse books that redesigned toga ite deeper inthe word mode photgapy nan era of 1 nue nin vido tuoris and prove ure uation es, many of sae se tuht and hat cn hae its limitations, Namely, a very slow path to progression. Some ofthese books wlfoxuson he mre analytical sd of photography and someon he more practical So though plant publsh ono these books wih many of my favour ied and tested ging setups, this fist on ams to hep us walkeforewe ty and un. There are certainly many ways of learning photography today, and while no one way is better than another, it's ay belief that many of us are skipping the understand- ing of why we choose to do what we do, hy dove ke one photograph ovr another? What ies us tao of enctement when we now weve captured reat inage? What uy defines ra phot? Every artist ss tes ust, btw rely at pon them. Tift book hopes ‘opeelbak ane of nse aes understanding a fore ours ou atthelghingn ou images an acknowledge hy wee odie t Thisisnat ole very asefl errs, butt als enables sto ake tat nudge andapiyita ou net statist plying ise deberte and ngitve process that we can ramatically improve ur photography from shoo shoo compared tothe rtherinefective ‘spray-and-pray approach wemay be ring on insteadvo Contents... o 1 Undestaning Light ‘An Introduction Pages 04 - Il 2 Objective & Subjective lightng How Teach Portrait Lighting co Pagesl2-I7 3. Realng the Light How shoting wth gels can nprove your white-light photography -Pages 8-26, o 4.5 Clsse Potat Lighting Mistakes You Might be Making and how to avoid them Pages 27-39 lighting oditirs ‘Understanding the typeof ight each modifier produces o “Paes 40-43 6 Useful Links Not eal, Just sl promotion. Pages 45-48UNDERST SFIS pa rey as An Introduction This article zis tlookathow we as photographers ight. may seem abou to many of you, butt vst majortyof us. simply nat quite that eas ut what desi truly mean toundestand light? Do we really need to understand igh to take great photos? The simple answers o.. but guarantee iw eg, any of shave opted tobe very eal imvsted in our passion for photography Same fu want to make our passion fll in carer and some us are simply ore han app deri great lessu fom creating beatiful photographs Whatever our intentions or aspirations may be, we as photographers arevety fot rate to have that choice fea thre ae very ew hobs ave to undergo many yeas of traning fom the previous generation bef they can even think aout making ing fam nsorlawyers ut wea photographers dn need todo tha. Infact there are huge numberof ery successful pofessinnlphotgrahers working today that were never dre ‘aught by thir more expeienoedpIMP Circa 1999 we e @ \ ' Those professional photographers never pursued further education in photog andinsead they opted ta teach themselves the craft. But agin, we're ery lc hat it’ even possible tod this Like! sat its probably ot harderto lar ta bea surgeon frm YouTbe taught approach s becoming mare and mae popular now, gen duction i becoming so prohibitively expensive. But what das beng taught look he? Where da you begin’? ‘What does a self-taught art education look like? [lust add ha though rceveda formal education in the farm of BA Hons ln photography. ibe using nyse inthe folowing steps because since | graduated back in 20), ve been learning and therfore. teaching mys Step Spray 6Pray As ston as eget our hands on ou fist camera urs step often ses us photo- arahing anything and eveything that crosses ox path Look tan new photographers pot and youl ae that conta phot of la ki Cana, efor rating up nrg lack an wht artic ste 38, portraits, lower pictures, stil life, animals. the lst goes on. aml: 75 years gol tare ou shooting bck and white andseapes in ny portfolio today by comparison and yoilsetat takes very gti find ou what any fs aly ant photographStop 2 Focus Up So afer weve photgephed everything that was fash enough ge infront of ur tens, vel gadvaly begin tobe ran oon partilarasect that rts us. That could be prtats landscapes, ely anyting atl. The point isha weil so begino see marefocus in ourwork Forme, as conway dawn to photorphing peoples enjoyed the inracton and sjotaely of workg wth subj. Plus, neat avas peered to tke contol ofthe ight via sco ighing Back in tee 2000s, nda camer fore, sho a-hos,porals a compettions and campaigns and thing fom corporate heoccasional wedding aynStep 3, Gttng Inspired Aor wevebeome aly cnfient with our crent raft, weve often bin to lokat ther artists work within our fi or marinspiaton Weloo atthe wok and e know that we et Peas wail flbw the on soi media and ocasonaly we may se an nage ofthis hat we absolute lve and wished we'd taken. Ais stage, we eal don't ow how thy shot thet nage because as sleet phoragapes, we don yet have the lst competely understand it, but we wsh weonud erate ‘Jingo om oogaphars Bo Daan, Mck ght and Nat Kenda ge apn my phtoray field in around 2004 veo he ig nbc very work he dusty tiately sured my love worked na climbing and rmountalneering bet ap enjoyed for so long and spent my tne traveling and tomy passion in around 2007 9 many owned a camer afew As mentioned ae, personaly steppedback fom photaapy fora comple of earn pursue someutdor aces. Bt asl tare tease that moot een was ilo get kil efor toon, Istrted get ra back int the word of photography, ad although eal photography bingy take one rom tad to bees han tying gt pai to climb rely bight Backhand to ths ay), th work photographers Brun Daan Nck Anigt and ada Kander were uly nspirig tome Tei pasion fr creating breattlng nd vival aestingimages what utimetly made me want fstant shonin gin, gars of wether made asucessful cre ut fit rat. | sa their images andl wanted to take photo ie hat Tecolor and interest they wee cratigat the tne was inedible an cea ey fry ram he stag- nat high-fyfsin mega that ad eg supreme fr song spar the 80s tern cic -Wsprobaby vr ping out ere ht personaly int wat vpy thr ork, ut iste wanted oak wt sew and lved about work andigetit ‘intomyounStop 4. valving Inspiration ‘ne great way to leam how an image was shot, isto simply cot But stop fora moment and think ‘why are you copying it?” Che reason may be becaiseyousnply wat that ttn your porto. Another reason (andthe mie eson) is becuse you vant to nav haw tat mage ‘was shot. fyoulook at photo end you doit know ho that iege was created, you fen jumpin with both et and ty treceatethe asc elements, You might hk Toul gta modelo stand hat and col use some coloured ight ight fe. and ff yougo to retate/empy the mage Now, thnk youl knowhow tat tums cut A his stage you have dea what modes wer sed you my not evn be sue how many hts were used and that’s ‘otto mention that you have o clue on the post-production eaten and calor ingused Asa result you wll most key be sorely dlsapoitedby the rests So instead, how about you focus on what you really love about the image and try and use those elements into your own work. For example loved those clout shot frm Bruno Dayan Nick Knight and Nadav ander but |edit cap theiimages deny, so instead Itoktheelements of ray elours that madera sense end baught that ito my own wrk, JP Circa 2009 fist rays ito cray ola peed up 2 ew waits tom This inspirational process was a fundamental turing pont forme and my work, Nolonger did have ligt someting artecty I wanted bathe porta in yellows an besten could do | want owas ding room in nen pik then cold do, Thelnpraton took fom others was the Kok needed tobe uly create ‘aga and fom here things snowball as my veacous appetite to cntn- uly rate someting new tok holdStep 5 Understanding 6 Crafting ‘Tiss timate the al step nou create jou. We now kaaw wht we wat to shoo, we alse know what we love, so nw al ered dls et oda honing what weknowand love Single ight? TWisis by farand vay the hardest part of curse Youre now fledged create andso now te burden ofbeig ru creates yon our souls But how doyoubecome trl creatve? How doyoucreate what bas ot been created bee? What sit that truly defines you as an atst and da you really posses aunque vison andsiye? Of couse, many non-creatives wltllyou i's ll been done before, ‘nothings rly nigue and ‘everybodys relly just copying each another. This is caraniy ane sl f thought bu | honest think you ave far more To gain fram believing you can creat something unique over chosing belvyou can. Yeumay know ting aboot a, but bet mest ofyau now bo te reais ae who created te wrk abo Blog creties rarely abot Big beter but mare atten about having the vin treat something niu How nny grerations of aris tke Van Gogh, Pass, War ner any arist ‘hats hosel ae) beieved it hada een on before eluasimpossible ‘ocrete someting ty niqu. unit. So ow dow et ere? Wel it and forost you nee stat bln youcan creat something niu. i, NOW! The sooeyoubelteyoucan ott hen theeaserilbe Net wp, wee going a eed tooo at wha we love and ten wee gig to havea lokat ho we can innprate that ito ourovn mags. without tri copying then Lok at same photos that you truly love and hnk abot what the nda ments ate hats making you ove that sho so much, From herewe can beg take those elements and use them nour own stats This is where we hegin to traly create, not by copying, ‘but by learning to understand what we love about other cart and incorporating it into our own and with our own voice and vision, Leaning a understand what weloveand uty sono the ares ings wea an arist cn, buttomove fava and cet sumetingrewandnique have master.Where being self-taught falls short Unfortunately, having the ability to read an images hard and thsi often astum- ling poit forma copied ates work and so understanding elements tha thy sal-tught artists, Up unt now, many of them wl e simply aly ik. \When| sey ‘cony. man that they kave watched YouTube vides, sean the mois sed andthe lighting angles and then coi that verbatim nto th wn work, To be clear; there is nothing wrong with this style of Jearning. But it will only get you so far. |vas taught what ight di, hw tact and wy, lon before Iver switched on a strobe, This snot necessarily bere way oflearng but t i equp me with the ty tread and understand ht, something that see many newer, self-taught struggling with, How do you think the images above were lit? Aline wile go| stared the above images of anute photographers wrk on my Facebok Page nd ased the community texan th igh that was used. Th lighting sel was ising, but xen stil, we saw whole host of varied re ve nuded some of them on the following page. Note eased, yn eed onl yu drt part inthis on my age orga then highly recommend you and analyse the it in the above images youselfLie mentioned, wat ach indival thought istreeant Some people nal others were ite ways of But ether way, hnk this was an erestng exercise asitshos that rn with vexysinpistc ightng ike this, thee are many. many wast seemingly att. ‘so, plese go ce out mare inedible wok byte phtoaper hi Nichols How do we get better at understanding light? Sahowcanwe mpg? Like sai, this isnot designed asa sooby feat sel-tugt potgapes, quite the oppostein fac. As | metoned athe sta. {fs very are to come across a photographer that st self-taught today so ths exer- cies squarely ane at the vst majrtyofphotoaphes. yal eres to fault arta for sal tus sothat we ma beter under- stand the ings we love inate ages by ntact ow each image as rte. Lphtisthnfully constrained and cooley the vy understandable as of physics. res inthe sae tight ine and atthe same sped vas ast reacts and responds in exactly the same wa it lays has and this makes it very pedal end understandable iismy ata clay out these characteris stat we may bere une stand tem when ese them note mages nd would ue youto lnk at ght ingin the same va. Elements tat affect the light in our images tie: + Shaiow dens (ow dr the shaw) + Highigt sie iwi be relative rhe bjt ion + Shadow ge rant (tow a hago rans int mi-oneo hgh) + Highigt nigh (how igh the ight leat ote objec ion) + Angle of shadow (where exacrlys the igh in relation to subject) + Distance fam subject (how fais the light ram the subject) + Height inreatin to subject (how igh th iti elton tthe subj) ‘With thes and kel mre ements n mid believe ay ging is understate andtereforeoento useing abla implement similar ok win ourovn wrk and sy. But dort fget, its mot simpiy about ‘copying lighting setup. we also need a nkat things wee about hat ety and understand wy ite hen! akat a geledighting that sot love, drt yo cop, bu do tna understand why lve it and incorporate that same feeling nt my own image.ike many things in life, theres no right or wrong way to learn photographic lighting... but Ido believe there are easy ways and hard ways to not only understand it, but more importantly ‘get hetter at it. es, but photography sees mre sigan jms ints eoltn du it being so unqulyiotechnoloy Every rae we capture is tk that camera tecinologys ving on daly basis Evy rae we then have to develops primary produced trough software and that 0 eres on dbs Tetons that we use ote our ar constant changin, but fl that th way we eam same ofthe techni ated ith hes tod ot. Forerampl tale the tem ignatius going to come out andy, but what an tel edunant tm nmdern age making I's term that ny people who want to'sond clove us and ve NEVER once heard a pfessoal woking potograp mof the cent Liging rats simpy ‘er that seas tthe relationship between moe than og, and in my option fats nly hare value when aching minds robots, and hee’. fiom believe that we shoud always havea goal when we pk up ourcamera and for argument sake es keep focused on porats. When we tke a portato somebody the gals tobe ale to pray tem na certain wa, Sure we may make the ook I say tis apo beautiful or menacing for example, but tokeep it single sional porta andthe subject wants took the best Most of the time, i's our responsibilty to ensure their picture is correctly exposed, but that’s like saying it’s a chefs responsibility is to make sure something is edible. It’s a fundamental baseline, not a bonus. Beyond it beng coe exposed though, sp tous as tohow ‘that shot, want tcraftOhjective Lighting Lie sai, 6 a bare minimu to thea porta, ve ‘edo corey egosure the sujet fa hs ight that eter toasourDbjective Light be cause has one goat cet expose te sub ject. Everything ese in he shot is open to yourin ieprtatin. Inport lighting we would fet this objet light sour ey ight or our master ight that renthing ese yun, hs key light hat | would lua setup rs dl woul ensure bare am 00% happy wth the exposure of this ght vie @ light meter or imag ngup aol ightThisiswerethe ortait can get alte mre crea ve, because ance we ave our bjt light set ‘up, wecan now consider acing adoring le fil ight and alight. these atonal lights hat refer as" Subjective Lights’ because ei goalis mre open to intxpetaton based on your personal asthe For example we ma want oad fil igh beneath subject ofl sme theshadows und the chin. Maybe we want lot fil ight createa ore beautifying appearance ut aye we nly wat ny anout instead Tis subjective ingbecas that creative decison ut you hers oght or won answerer Anoter example mht be hair ightplaedbetind he subject to add alittle shine to the hair. Maybe wewant at a ght be qt bright og us spol highighs, maybe we want hatha ght to be alot ores, hating dion up es areal sbjectve gts. C oo lenNot all Ratios were created equal Aer looking atthe erampls onthe previous page, YoU might think that ais woud bea ere way to caplan he dferencein egosure between afi light and ey gto evan in power rom the Feylght tthe ha ight. And tough youd be tecnica oe fundamental point. The sub Hour sujet wasa lite older, maybe we'd want ‘more power on te fillightofl-n a inl. Majbe our subject hada ese ato haste compared toa platinum blonde subject and asa result thee har would needa ot rmorelght to gv asm effect tou bond ating up 22 ihn rata shot wil ot ‘eke anyof tis into account and so we al intoa ap ofliness whee were ot eaingte sene info ofus, but most important weet making creative deiions on ow we nigh inpave that shot based on the sujet Objective and subjective lighting enables us to consider our goals a little more and to think about what we want to achieve. Yes the objective light has to be cor- rectly exposed, but beyond thal, we need to make creative decisions with the rest of the lights based on what we want to achieve, not on what we're told is a ‘car- rectly’ lit image.Closing Comments {wis ay have sounded ikem ashing on teh ats, bu flit eq a aster one to get acs just ow dated cern ways fleeing photographing actualy re Yes there are certan- Iyvlbie nights o be leaned fram understanding concepts ike ightingratis, bu utinatel isis ‘not teaching you how to read ght. only how copy it, and this sa very dangerous way of earning anything Being able to look ata scene and understand what you ‘want’ to achieve and ‘why’ you want to achieve itis far more useful as you learn how to ‘interpret light in your own way for your own vision, As potoraphers we need to beable to adapt tothe subjects in fot of ws an that means wecan' be bogged down by what ve’stoul do but mare by what we tink wl lok best foreach and every case. ist understand what your ‘objective lights (usually your ey light). once you have hat correctly exposed it telly wp 10 youas to how yout theres ofthe stot ing tis proes of austing he subject ight, get nate ait fying esti adustmets in power, Bj ong ths you may come ars lathe yoke and that yo a thought of Neerbe atid experiment ‘Alte covidence noua abit can goa ng wa and wth igel mags big practically re ever beads an ply wth exposures, no matte haw wrong you think they igh be. -IfitIooks good, nobody cares what the lighting rato is.‘Whether you like coloured gel photography or not, there's cer- ‘ainly a huge amount that can be learned from using coloured lights and that knowledge can be applied to other areas of your photography to great effect, including white-light photography. |nmy opinion, gts are one ofthe most uforging disciplines to masterinighting. They dont same ul book as white ght ant ng results that leave you confused Nt of ur entire photographic journey eles around shooting with wit igh, so change that can be big stumbling block for may. share no ‘corer exposure hey laugh inthe very face of ight meters aster esulting appearances based purely on your reference ater than ight and wrong. On tp of ta, things et exponent weld when hey gan up and you Use mile gels ontop of ne another, Mixing wo or more an almighty ruckus of confusing colour combos that ean, dsegerdthe ul book on what we aread know about clo ix For example you mired, ue and green gels together, you gt white light. Wait wher “Oh, So | gotta master white light photography before | play with gels?” Notre galling natn a cratie igh sure, bt you can also simply se ele ing tose whats wrong with your images Soi jumping onthe gle lighting srugge-bus wrth it? Sureyou get some prety pictures, buts nt for everybody What cana een ‘rom le ighing hat can be apple to your reuar whiting?Inthis seston! aim toby touch on Yeading the | ont havea beter term fot bt what im gtting at that se so many bay wht porta out e. ad the photographer lary case the ero with he iting When | ay ‘ba lighting’ am nar singly refering to my opinion of ood and bad hing, I efering to universal accepted slog ight rats ie Yes these rules canbe broken forartistic mart, ut not whenyoue tang casio headshots or eorporat portals hat sthetine fr cla amen iting and not the afrementionedspagttt nein of nse shadows and overexposed fil lights Butt however. thy these bad potas wth es, the shocking realy of bow funky high is would bea too apparent totem,ke another look at that same poor ightng scenario but hs time el take shot wth coloured selon they ight and a colored gl on he il igh It now becomes a lot mre apparent s to where e We can lat soe that ou orange filight is catch real apparent before we added the gals let efaling on our subject’ theface that weren't ch of those me unfatering sections Let's take alesse simple headshot: one key light above an fillight below. Both ight are wit ight sos almost Wa ble tose where the iting rom the ey ht also the face ad where hight als. dd somegelsin there and alot sudden, thee of where ach of those gt alin ial vo apparent. f A tis stage Im not even refering o exposure and haw po a he a need o remember that Im fe First and fore lighting people and potas Thetest gh inthe wr illo rap fhe moa fh youhavetocoect manage bath this has in commo pose, but the oe thing that al Photographer being able to 'rea the ight shouldbe, fm imply taking about where theligt ooking band syoussaork fora wil, or attended anyof my workshops, you 25 of light in ofclour and tone hat am tying toad are and clou tht ae busy and visually con youve no doubt know that am constant am refering igo ing large ato tiny broken sections of i using tothe human eye, which in tum detracts fom the overall image.Sowew established we okng fore plenes oft and na smal olen sects fin ing igh and shadow, now afl from one of my gel ghting workshop and see what | am ooking for when| am choosing ny Tavourte shots. put that knowledge ita practice On this page wl ew som ier | ahaa looking fr lrg panes of colour aca tying to avoid small overlapping sections of ght sel Belavisa small rupafima he best shosin terms of clean iting?Thisisa sal selection of images. so it shoul be reat easyfr yu to work at whch ones are beter than the cher now that youkraw wat youre looking for Ps. ths cess is las far east do when wer comparing mages side by side ke this. For example, it's far harder to jst analyse ingle image nts own, but when compared 0 thers, youl always have favourite utifyoe stl telow tn see wich ones ds based on the lighting sarin with theTote fa alt ofthe selected ones ve alread etauched and publsted,so you might have recognised some of them subconsciously anyway. yu dt et them alight or yov'e stil aro aso why! kept catan shots and notte, lt’ now tke ok teow nd see ow visuly descr what | amlookng for wt thse plans of light 2 of ight Iy separated by myn‘hope you now have beter understanding of the erm clan lighting’ and some of hngs loo for wen yu" trying to Yea eight: Granted this is onl to he surfae of wha great ighting looks ke, butl feel is an importantes leaning to see te ight, and gelling lps make that ore obvious tothe eye Another important pint hers hats not jst abot he igh, Remember we sais acrucal srg betwen lgtng and pose Al fhe hots in these ean plese een wth the sare setup, but 'ust hw the pose inert wh hat ligt that cn make or breaka shat So how des this pny to your regular whit lighting prtrats? snp an err sein sezng how teh aso he model, Remeber this crazy coloured ight ingisstiljust classic ky and flclamshllgtng setup, bit gos long wa to show youwhat tha ight s ding even ifyoucase twit regular whit ght Like everybodys, spent many ye hating wth my favourite go-to white lgting setups. wast uni years later tha | poi gels tothose setups and saw forthe frst time what he ght wes actualy cing fyou hate gelled ging ths fine, but do nt underestimate the powerit has to improve your skis as a photog her with regula itnIn this section Iam going to highlight 5 key things that I see portrait photographers doing that | consider to he ‘in need of improvement’ and although there are no hard-and-fast rules to photography, try to think of it as being similar to an instrument being slightly out of tune or a meal that's perhaps a litle too salty. These are 5 glaringly obvious errors tothe well in formed, but they may not be so obvious to these who are just starting out. Subjectivity esos a that photography sa subjective ld adjust ke any other art-frm, there fs going to be people who agree and disagree wit what Iclass.as ‘mistakes Converse, histor lectures wl ach us that he Ben wal ln 1889, mathematicians wil lus that 2 +2=4, These are what we refers fats butinour wor ofthe as, we rent uso trict governed and itis quteas simple Commerciality Ther wil ceranly be occasions ta bend these ules fr ars reasons, tif You want to attach commercial ment to wat le dscusing here i's worth pon ing ut hat was resyosiblfor traning al ofthe new port photograpers ina Lrg nd verybsy studi fx many years \hen started to enforce these 5 areas of imravement inthe photographer was Tring at that tui theyl saw infant creases nthe cnt average spent per soot. So although his section of rules ears out of plac in a word of art and subjcti- 1, these 5 uidlnes are alvsulyzesthe Improvements opr that we ae allbard-vred tapped So water sujet oclents a photographer oro, thy wilfhank yori proving thr images in thes 5 spl ways.1. Catchlights Theft ie and simple ai once youkrow what you kg for and ‘hans supreastoknow when youve dot ort Iisof cous, cathlighsin the suet es, Catchights the spect ih ligtsin es create by diet eectn ofthe keyg. Having these igh- lights preserin he js means that youre ing the yes shape and without them eyes can fen ok dead and els. Tofurte cement ry ote seen mater inl gta remove ctclghts ‘sigh eth of characte on cee, Catch ae certain power subuanscos sige ff and italy. ocarectpstaning the ey ght above themes head and sgh info willensurthe fae Ut proper and thatthe sarees it give te that tela spre Caos shuld spear 0 ok, 2, land 2 Ifthe appear any loverat an ck then we tro get ur dr-lighng whichis anther ing siaeyes inthis shat okvery dark and dead without ay signi cantight entering them. Asa esut ite to no catehight are present care many ways se ht be pce to aid catch ight, but ually ito igh or ‘hesubjc lng dwn, n contrast. this sht has str vile catch thee and ‘he sujet aesthtcaly looks a ot more approachable and less menaing By loverng the eight ofthe ight soit just at subjects yes and thereby strong catchghts as result2 Under-lighting Unier-ghtings imply lighting hats coming fom below the subject in reaton to ‘hecamer Tink of hose S60 haror movies tat needed to make monstersand creatures mar scar. The inp ih thm fom below. The reason his nder-ihingloosso ads because ee wed eng one an- the when we it from above, We outside andthe unis ighting us from above when wee indore ls relight us from above Infact his so presenta out visual eagation ofthe word, thatghtng faces fom anywhere apart fom above simpy ls cuban hat something i wrong Soalhough shuld be antl obvious to many us that und-ighingis bad and very fev ofus would make the mistke of gting our subj so fom below, sflse the same effect appening when photographers dei to intodue the fl hts. The under-lghting effect happens when thefil-ight is actually casting more ight on ‘hesubjets fac thane eight se tis doeal thine and ten by apa ent profesional. fact, ot oolong ago acorporatehead of one ofthe wards leading camera manufactures released heat-sht wth arendous unde ight- in, soit not jst beper that fl fou to ths on How to avoid it Thank's easy tof You jus silt down your fl-ight. Yup that’ sipl tum the power down fat ak some test shots at vying powers of fil-ight if yuenot sure andthen conse the avowed iege an care sponting pero be xa sat Ivey ay see wich you prefer when images re se-y-sien this ay so is defintely wrth dong Zo Pro Tip: ‘youre ptoropapig a series of people ikea group of compart head shots fr example), pay attention to each indvdva you photograph youre photogrephing 46°5"ich man end then 25'F'nch afta ads and ma ju ya flights acorn Fling tod owl mean that the young la sige béa lotloer tthe fl-igt than the ky- ight. And gues wha! ul have created merging by simply ot charging snl thn.No Fill-Light Too Much Fill Effective, Yet Subtle Fill this imagewe have nofil-ph. ifs notabad thing inthis image. veadded fll-ight below thesubject, Inti ast age, ve tuned te fil-ight down ala. n and no il-ight ifr better tan too much fil-ight. When theseimages are id-by-sde ike thi. should fact, had you not sean the rial shot wth no fil-igh, be painfully obvious how bad this lok, buts asl ou might ath sed an atonal ight dane you nt careful atl Tis the ak youre aiming fr3. Subject to Background Separation This one could be argued as ate mor bsed on preteen nit done el for eft in both instances, but as aru, youe starting ou with lighting ry toensureyou have strong visual separation betwee your subject and background Thislgtng technique abut shoving shape and form wt shadow, othe ab senogofligt you potgaphing sujet wh nla ing ih fr example andthe postned too far nay rom the ackgound then that background wll op of to pur dns ust ete shadow side of our subject oes. Wha ap pens rawis that visual thebachgroundand the cise from one anther resuling in the he sujet ends and th backround begins ow site isin yet being abet tel where M hey might ke ing anything wrong by not shoving separation, bu you cauld define something bet y be dong you nl havea single igh then move your suc and setup closet round an alow you igh spl over ont the suroundngs so that now appears litinthe shot bein the mode. This very simple technique and obvious once its been pointed out, but incre efectiveat dramatically changing how a shat and your subject can ok spell youony havea singlelight to work wthisimage has lt more going on visually anit ot moe later ing forthe subject. Hee we now sea where the mael ends and here the background bogns here's nothing technically wang withthe ihn here, but ou can hatifsainostimpossleto the model ends and where the background begs. often toprovide some cone Heres the ghting setup fot far daerinage shove The sngle ight and mal raf istance cm the backround and hat = sultsinalackafd seene due on ight ling behind tem. Wh he exact same setup and hing you can create econ- ltl clifret shot. Simply move the model and thelightig closer tothe talgrdid and allow the igh splintoF AME Wie 4 Joined-up Shadows Aga, his isa mistake tats quite subtle and sometimes rey tai, ut ts alvays worth being ava of. Abasc ru of gig formes tht you las want tocteate‘clan hing Clean iting ishing tat doesn scream yok at 1, main ight nhs seus ighting that compliments the subj and ‘othng mare, Remember adding that ill-ight earlier? lt aded alot {o the image without screaming that youre using an extra light. Thats clean lighting. you oki for an example ofthe lene iin round tcan often be und inthe tans fcr photographers Got car photgraphyis aul onthe har est scinesn ou fied to mast thay aston alight inthe wrong place when ging a carte tra stinysurlae ofthe caw oes ean nes and shape it- stant Car photographer never se more hts tan thy hare, ut ach ons pst- ‘tine wih absol precision. infec een seen some car photographers place lights a sol generat hubcapcath-hsn th shot but not actualy ht the safacect the cain ny vay The ae patent redindet Forthose of us that are photogrptng peopl, wectten dt favethe tie othe veed to beta pei, butler worth owing wat lnk good and wy. Oe wa td hiss tojoin-up our shadows, Thankful joining up the shadows seater od tan you might hin, you inp justhatetowath out fort inte example share on he flowing pg, musing oneligt tv ilusate my poi, bit every ight yu add toa scene should undergo the sane scruti,Te one thing tat we as potatphotorapters havea contend with ovecar photographers toh s tht usu soften moving, bt we can wet toouratvanage tere Intefollovng example images, am specticaly loki a the shadow created by | ‘the nose. You should see that in one shot, the shadow ends and then some ight cuts across the cheek before ante shagows created by the cheekbone sel Tis is | hat wuld fr as ines hig ass creating nore dstractingeements ‘asta tan necessary, | ‘then asked the made to move er head to her right. Now we have no gap of light | betwen tense shadow andthe ceeboneshednw Ths nw hes the impression of single shafow area onthe fae and hs water toas ‘leon ight | Arata have asked hero move read tothe et and emo the | ose shadow aloe, Tis aga woul be cleaner hing tan before Imig ot sem euch, but ow imagine tis happening with il-ghts, hai lights an tackgound gts, he ightng wud tart ook vey messy and un, very qu Watch ut fortes ational shadows and where possible, jst you igs to ani hemor beter yet, get ousutet to move and pose ai tem aswelile morte to get ood at be patent as towha you aking fo. Asa general ui, ong up stadows onthe subjects faelsa nod place star. The mage herehasa nose shadow that sn ain the check shad visually tht can make then appar bigger than actualy he pon, but this prob lam s fr mare apparent whe Using very hard ht sou aris and soot.’ as note ble when using soft-ight ma ersikesofthoes Sometimes’ nat even about the ihn placement at all. but more bout working with your subjects pase, Simply geting your subject ‘ome thelr head alte can fix thisand then youcan in those shadows up and creat visually cleaner looking shot. inthis instance Ive ast the model totun further awa from the ight join pte stadows, burt could sts easy of asted ‘them totum ina the light to remove the ofncing shadow together5, Poor Hair-Light Placement Thepleeent of a-ihtsis ant ove shown how cul lok bets ampef How samething looks re, until Firs, youhaveto know why youre using at-ightt begin wth, -reou simply cing them ta itl shne tothe hai? frau tying to accentuate shape inthe bat? care you ust yng a create tong separation betwee background? ursutect and ofthese re valid placement ca ache specif har stoo wh lof these, But for ala of my porta work(unes i's a | would ately genera ai is to simply stow lear separation from mode tobackgaund Imagine you hava carkbacqround anda sujet wth very dark har, youl quickly see thatthe two wl begin o merge nto ne another, so lacing some ha-hts cane spl solution oid hs Nw hat we now why we wan fous the hal-lghts, what the best way of sing them? Fst of the plement ofthe gh, This crucial sit won't be nthe re place for very subject you photograph. As guide hough, the hts should be placed behind the sujet pointing forward towards the edges ofthe subject head, Nr, they shouldbe lace just far enough apart so that n light fl onto te fron ofthe face andthe tps ofthe nse an ps. nay sound incredibly cbs but hep an ee out the ai-lights re catching the front ofthe face and causing tis nerdy confusing and dsracting lighting on he subjects features, You hae task yours ‘Which shot os eter? lh ling onthe subjects face? “It shold be plan see wen pod out, but youd be sur prised aw often you see professional pratt. Tether key actors the owe of th aright ands a ule, tend to stick os iti amount oflght as | can getaway wth, Remember: ash photography is ever about fights mug "but is bau adig ght io compliment he sujet and mast of thetimethe how many shots you see shot with or 3 aoa gh the setup wil requ less power tan you tink Hair ba-lghts.No Hair-Light Here we tave our classic ey and fl-ght setup Tis is Distracting Nair-Lights inthis image tave now aed my two hali-ights acl the same as we mentioned in our'under-lghting’ behind our model andthe re pointing ba cent we hare an afl at going on inthis tthe har bu we veal add at highlhts andvisual dstractons onthe su tocamera seotion and wa hve litle flo soften the shadows unde the model ja, but he has looking ait Controlled Hair-Lights nth shot weve adjusted ourha-ghs ony shoud a prety clear ose the diferenc ae lt of shape and detain te bar but ve removed alt hose unwanted and isracting igh- ight on ou subjects faceThis is the classically simple ey and il-ight setup att at some detail and dimension into our su- before weve aed our allt jects har owe ad a couple of har-lights Unfortunately tough we've lt the hair e'e als it the side of our models face because we have ‘on farforward pointing in, We caneasiy remove tes istacng highlight nthe socels face by pling ou igh further behind our sub- ect and poling them back as sen heeIn Conclusion & Things to Remember Sathereyoutave, ut abanfl of the clsicliging mitts that personaly think wean al aod iy beige more careful wh our ight plaament Lie mentined a the tart, theseare sujet nd hres avs ozasions fo bend theses’ wthlightingbutiyoue starting ot rust have his ageing felig hat ourliging neds impr younay fi tha these asc poiters wil hel {alo ttt commer valet thes tsa testa of thecal. rely do ‘hat because phtorgy is predinaty an at fom andar hasvery ewes But sain as hee us wera ignfican par fh ighng- bila prod- ed tonewhotogapers who entered ubisy studio should mention it Everytoy takes porgeps fr diffrent easons, but poesia photographers ‘are take photographs for ote photographers nda uch hey need 0 hee the lets perception of ‘at’ photography in mind. Sure, you wat to impress our friends on Instagram tendon wory bout the cath and nose shadows be- cause you can welt offs artistic. Hower youre shooting fora len, you beer make sue your ighngisocad own tight, because althaugh your lent may not be abl to eplin why the ck catlighsin the modes ees los ies, they wont e sing your sks agin Know your audience and shoot accordingly. Asa general guie, my hing piso is ‘Keep the lighting as visually engaging as possible, whilst simultaneously keeping it as clean as possible, acto this bykeepig the along question my mind whist sting up ‘Does adding an additional light to this setup add an in- leresting element?’ Or does that extra light highlight a distracting one?" Keep these basic prinpesin ind when youre seting up each and every ight and You be fineLearn How to Read Lighting Modifier Characteristics There are a seemingly limitless amount of lighting modifiers available to us, but most of them fall into just a 3 categories. Lshing moder, mo materhow re, hare defining ulti hat de ‘ermine th type of ight hey pradce -Size of Modifier ~Colour of Modifier ~Surface Texture of Interior Understanding Lighting Modifier Characteristics Without oki vou you eal dso the ighting characteris ofa small White unbrela compared t awh beat ish? Thigh sound ifaw, tt’ byhaving this knowlege that we can ego bul our aos ands wth ight. ‘ine you have enough experience youl be able to make informed and preeter- ined choices an how tight something over the somewhat rutating i= al-and-eror process you may cunt hare. “Will his umbrella cast shadows on the background behind the subject? Wil the falloff of light from this ring-lash keep my background dark? Will his silver ‘modiler give me a stronger colour saturation here or should use a white modifier for this pastel gel?” Imagine che preparing completed mel Tha not folowing a ei, they re fllonng theistic and expertence of what wil workin veto stutons Lightings the same, endo only oyu nee to row what suethng does, but yoUalso needa now how it wil eact the stun in fot ofa, Tee look atthe follwing shots and pay ose ateton tthe shadus{ Look ay how dark theyare. ho they ranstonromlight to dark. How harsh eres ae and ton. Now d th same wh he igh. Sometimes here wont een be any Highlghs, whys that and how can ean?2 Reflected Light Modifiers SA, vy a: Se ‘Small White Umbrella Small Silver Umbrella Large Silver Umbrella Asmalluhiteunbrlawil create clean, morenatual_ Smal sverurelas produce lightly cldr aking Larga ster umbrellas wil disp looking ight ue tos colour I wl als create ght duet ts sive surface The shadows produces oth thewhte and ser smallunbrels The are I shadows duet ts smalls andthe shadows wil have are stong deo sal sizeand also siver. mre. surface wl rodue aster ight butt ter, shiny soft efigesofansion due tots difused surface ter relectve surface. This morereflectivesuface wil aso surface willcreate crisp, strong shadows that havea ture. produce shaper shadow transitions. auick edge ranstion an quali fromWA i dal Diffased Light Modifiers Small Softbox Asmallstox can creat some shadows det ts small se Tis smalls allows fra be lose 1 thesubjet which in tum allows fra quick drop-off lights heay wit fusion cover also produces clean colours and ery sft shafow ee ranston. Ditfused Beauty Dish Abeauy dish utes smal ‘subject and create a quicker drop-off of light. sdf ‘sion cap also softens the shadow edge transitions but its eected et nie the model rete clean eran erenloking gh tan a sel sied sot Bounced Light Bybouning alight rund a white rom, he ight oes its ectoaly 2 appears to come fom aaound the subject. The resulting light is incredibly soft and produces ost no shatws This i vert but also lacks an ability to create much depth and form. 0 get close tthecause direc hasan al the hardest form of gh nes on afocused pi, onal esutingin exten timed shadow it leaves the modifier hee sand be very small and alight that Z Arotherless common motif. but on that produces a Theing ight as avery dtc ok asi thon qu ok, uses its smalls Yceatstrongshad- ight hat appears to come ect fom he lense avs, ituses its dfused surface to soften he shadow Then ight soften smal so produces srg shad edge transitions ands unique ability to also bounce bt because the light enpearso come form he ight araundtheroom alowsthe shadows ta havelght. lens, the shadows ae very small an lack drertonalityThanks for Readin Thanks for dnginto this ew series of mine and hope hat you were able x ‘rot sume useful tis andstateis hat ol be bla employ intoyourwarkfiow moving forward, Heep your eyes open for Book 2 in that extn be ging oer same more prac caltpswth regards shot inthe tuo gover some must-have ites for ourkt bag dscuss the est ns fr pra howto cotact and book profes sional mol fr your next tot, pus also pride you ith an exercise tha en ales youto wock our photographic sy. Don't miss Book 2 - Coming Soon. Ae anogtefist a hear ebout he reas of Bok by slring ptm nev ter Not nly do send you a mons woof mys andehnqus ails each ont, ut oul alo et xls das nd iscauts ony atest workshops and products edt jakehicksphotography.com ad sn uve ny Newsletter pageJakebicksphotography.com/products Definitive Colour Pack Pastels Colour Pack Utility Gel Pack The Deft Clu Pack contains allofthecorecol-ThePastels Colour Pack contains the suber tones The tity Ge Pack contains Neutral Density Gt ours need to get you shooting in any uation that e- needed toacieveasoftercaloued ook. This packisa reduce the ower of yoursrobes and thereby enabling duies maximum seturtonnjourimages. Each pack pafectadiontotheDeitie Colour Pack rasa wider aperture shots wth ash photography ifuson contains 2 gels nuting duplicates colours ints oun ight. Thesegels have Gels ar also nuded to reduce the harshness that use to achieve symmetrical ighting ike the pinks, been chosen to wrkon helrawn aswell as together to hart-ight modifiers plus vaety of color cafection gelsinduing ‘Colour Temperature lu an Crow Tiythe Powder Blue, ose Pn and Peach elsfora Temperature rage ges Titi calauraokColour als area great way unlock the mysteries of wit ight When you master iting wth abining ambient ight with stot ale introduces four unique metho of creating colour ges you are actually naster- ng exposure photograpy pr- ing whit gt photography. This tu ras wile capturing uel ial stows howto introduce colour ble practical eects in-camer This tual as designed to teachyounot ust he echnical hing ron fundamental aspects ofl exposure po cept the mast advanced lighting ‘ography but bow tobe ES a See cus eileantov orl AAR T Ser gy fe tbetudoand einen Fay Hersam 01200 ecnigue and es wirkovorooRpea wcuck’ RR post-production ver pat fom thers gelstoevistng setups, This colour al tutorialWY 2 y Samet we. T [> tert WORKSHOPmm ‘a rs The Humble Colour Wheel Theor ven aun! seo evs do ous nana popes aruda dsc 6nd ‘veut tds ih verovertoas aco ve Aster deta sey feet by sng kt ofr ws elapse thu hat soit ft try shag at al, arrestin ips wales eed yu es, phys nau tfrgd arise Atala anise oe eh hare tears fn ick een al fhe conto at we wel tpt, Theres vy eta alr ‘amfnen t sted te ope of i mi arise et he uses bihi te masa ar theses ie, hte te, Complinetary Caoars The thet eos tht ope ene ‘nue te corte, Pa Popul nbs li neonatal punle ad ny persia ave gan ti Tia Colours Tis cou mbna eats thee ous tat ‘wpe atten canes 1a i 0 othe calor ue. Themes his ant mast spa tito cornet pays, ta ele. tet or amb oa ga, a and pi ew of my emt tins hee, real andogeel Analogs Coors Als cls outst tions to ate ut is ‘| eda yd ste tors a sey ote ado el. Hte [msg Volt, bet db, bt yuan ay heel, amg si hs hte ara gs ls