Studio Lighting

I have to admit, I really like my Canon speedlights. Studio photography is (in most cases) much easier than landscape photography - no steep mountains to climb, no difficult weather conditions, no trekking heavy gear through miles of wilderness. And no bears... usually. Still, there are many challenges, and studio photography is anything but boring.

Perfect studio lighting may seem to be as simple as the flick of a switch - but it's actually much more complicated than you think. The mood of the image depends upon the lighting as much as subject and composition. I've seen so many fantastic images that just don't have the impact they could because the light isn't right. We use reflected or diffused light more often then not - but there are situations that call for direct lighting as well. I have an article in the works that shows our basic studio lighting setup... that will help explain the basics for those who aren't sure where to start.

Our equipment is relatively simple - three flash units with stands, three umbrellas, a white paper backdrop, heavy black curtains, white reflective flooring, a couple of reflectors, and assorted clamps, stands, and backdrops for more creative shots. We've hung our white paper from the ceiling, so it can be rolled up and put away when not in use. Our black curtains hang from hooks in the ceiling, and they can be taken down as well. The reflective flooring is actually two large panels - which can be taken up and stored against a wall. All our lights and stands fit neatly into a small trunk that also serves as a coffee table. So our studio becomes our living room when we're done with it. It's a great set-up for a house full of kids!
More on studio lighting in future posts...

-Varina

Studio Shoot

Jay and I spent the afternoon shooting with a group of friends from the Cleveland Photographic Society. We had the opportunity to visit a local studio and shoot with some models - this is Brian. It was a lot of fun, and we got some nice shots. We generally shoot in our own small studio, here at home - so it was great to play with something a little bit different. I'm looking forward to seeing the work of some of the others who shot today, too... it's neat to see what others do when we all shoot together. Everyone's images end up looking so different... different angles, camera settings, lenses, and processing.

Sunday

We ran today - about six miles - and had some fantastic sushi for dinner. Yum. We also spent much of the afternoon working on a series of stock images. I plan to process those tomorrow, so if you check back then, you're likely to find a shot of two here. This was a fun stock shoot... it's a brief series of environmental images and we were also testing our new studio setup. It worked perfectly, and was incredibly easy to put up and take down. I couldn't be happier.