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Mini Studio Guide
MINI STUDIO GUIDE >04
Studio Photography used to be a expensive business.
Because of this, this kind of photography was relatively
unknown to many photographers.
But now, a professional photo studio is very affordable!
Our vast product range can be a bit overwhelming, so
we wrote this mini studio guide to cover the basics and
to explain some terminology.
• Why Use Studio Equipment?
Although your camera comes equippped with a built-in flash, it is
not very suitable for portrait photography. For example, it makes
a face look very flat. Studio lighting is a better solution, for two
main reasons: it lights your subject more evenly and naturally
and with more depth, and gives you lots of creative options such
as shooting high key and low key, for dramatic effects. More on
that later.
Example 1
Example 2
• Basic Knowledge about Shadows
The length and hardness of a shadow is
determined by the power of the light source,
the distance to the subject and the type of
light: direct or indirect. Compare this to your
own shadow: on a sunny day, you have a
long, hard shadow. On a cloudy day, your
shadow is hardly visible.
This is because the clouds have the same
effect on the sunlight as a diffuser has on a
studio flash: it makes the light more even and
bounce around the subject.
Example 1 shows the subject directly lighted
with one studio flash called the "main light".
It casts a long and sharp shadow.
Example 2 is lighted with two flashes, each
using a softbox diffuser. Not only is the
subject lighted more evenly, the second flash
(called "fill light") lightens up the shadows.
This is exactly why the Linkstar flash kits
contain two flashes, two diffusers (softbox or
umbrella) and two light stands: it covers most
of your basic studio photography needs.
• Additional Lighting
Additional lights can be used to light
up the background. Using one ore more
additional flashes, you can light it up
evenly to eliminate shadows, or create a
gradient effect.
For portrait shooting, a third light ("effect
light") is often used as a hair light to
create more depth in the portrait, as
shown in example 3.
Example 3
• Flash Light vs. Continuous Lighting
Continuous lighting offers a "what you see is what you get"
approach. This is ideal for product photography and video.
Shooting models is also possible, but for a model the continuous
bright light is less pleasant. It also makes the pupils smaller so the
photograph isn't as natural as with flash light.
The advantage of flash light is that you don't neccesarily need
a tripod: using studio flashes your photos are less sensitive to
vibration.
• How much power do you need?
For portrait shooting or small product photography, 120-160Ws
flash heads can be used. For shooting a whole person, 200Ws
is a desired minimum. For larger groups, 400W flash units are
advisable, whereas for very large groups people or large objects
flashes with 800Ws power and above are the best choice. Of
course, you can always reduce the flash power on a unit when
needed.
"PROFESSIONAL
STUDIO PHOTOS... WITHIN
EVERYONE'S
REACH"
• Using Diffusors
Most flash kits come standard with diffusors. The purpose of a
diffusor is to evenly spread the light, like clouds do with sunlight
on a cloudy day. Another benefit is the reduction of reflections on
glass objects and on faces, which for example makes a person
look sweaty.
A softbox is the most common solution.
A softbox is the most common solution.
It has a reflecting silver layer on the
inside, which bundles the light before
it is emitted forward through a diffuser.
This make the best use of the available
light.
The main advantage of a translucent umbrella diffuser is the
little time it takes to set it up. This makes it ideal for a portable
studio. Compared to a softbox, however, more light is scattered
so the lighting efficiency is less optimal. This can be compensated
by turning the flash's power up, or repositioning it closer to the
subject.
• Using Reflectors
Reflectors are one of the most widely used
tools in studio photography. You can use
them to lighten up shadows, or to reflected
a slightly colored light onto the subject.
They also enable you to make the best use
of available daylight, when you don't want
to use lighting equipment.
• What camera should I use?
Basically, any camera that lets you enter the shutter speed,
aperture and ISO manually is suitable for studio photography.
A good starting point is to set ISO value on 100 and the shutter
speed on 1/125. You can then experiment with the aperture
and power setting on the flash head to find the desired lighting
values. Alternatively, a flash light meter can be used to quickly
find the best values.