For this studio lighting module I decided to concentrate on fashion, with a link to advertising –to create images that would appear in upmarket teen/lifestyle magazines, My initial research involved me flicking through clothing catalogues, however the repetitive high key studios set up didn’t really appeal to me –the images lack creativity and atmosphere and simply aimed to advertise the items of clothing. My plan was to create images that allowed my target audience to imagine them selves in the models place, in that situation, wearing the clothes my models are wearing. And so my idea was to create a “party feeling” –girls getting ready together for a night out- this are the link to the interior/exterior theme of the module.
I began in the studio workshops experimenting with high, low and mid key lighting-where I learnt how much power and effect lighting could have on an image. I found it very difficult to get familiar with F stops and ratios etc-but with help from my peers and tutors I feel I am getting to grips with working in the studio and I feel that during the workshops I was able to create some effective lighting set ups using reflectors and soft boxes. I also went on to research lighting set-ups in more depth on the Internet.
In preparation for my final shoot, I asked my models to come into the studio so I could experiment with positioning etc before using the lighting. It also allowed me to play with outfits and props etc so that the final shoot would run as smoothly as possible. From spending a few hours in the studio I felt I wanted to take the shoot out of the studio, which would mean hiring the ranger kits. I decided to this because without using a lot of large props, it would be very difficult to create a believable bedroom scene- I wanted to create a girls bedroom in which the models are getting ready for a night out. And so I decided the easiest way to do this was to actually use a bedroom!
During setting up the ranger kit, I took a few snap shots to experiment with the composition of my images in high key lighting. After my shoot I went through my images and decided that despite my first intentions I actually preferred the images shot that were slightly higher key lighting rather than mid key. The images were more fresh and vibrant looking-and I think this would be allot more desirable to my target audience. My initial reasons for not shooting in high key were because I thought the images would lack atmosphere, but this was when I was planning in the studio- however I then chose to shoot in my bedroom, which has a lot of atmosphere. The interaction between the models also adds an exciting and interesting atmosphere.
The high key images also looked a lot more professional, and I could see them more in a glossy magazine. And so, I planned another shoot with my models in order to shoot more images in high key.
During the shoot, it was quite difficult trying to communicate my ideas with my models- and so I showed them some of the images I had come across in magazines so that they could see the general direction I was looking for. The models had a lot of fun during the shoot and I think this added a lot of truth to my images- girls having a good time getting ready together before a night out. I think that the truth in the images make them alot more accessible to my audience as teenagers/young women could imagine themselves in the situations and so can relate to the models and could imagine themselves in the clothes they are advertising. I also think that the relaxed feel of some of the images suggest that the clothes being advertised, are comfortable etc to wear- which is suggested by some of the models positions.
For my final shoot I decided that in order to make my images more high key I needed to use more lighting. For this shoot, I took out the elinchrom lighting. This time, because wanting to make my shoot a bit more High key I needed 2 or 3 lights (usually 4 would be needed but due to my space being so small and with it being not a plain white set I decided 2 would be sufficient). One to light the scene and one to light the models. In order to create the high key (is) lighting I required I used a ratio of 2:1 to ensure less shadows etc. I decided that my background needed to be between f-stop 16 and 22, and then my model must be a stop down to ensure to separate the model from the background effectively.
I decided that due to the lack of space in my bedroom, it would be impossible to shoot in completely high key due to there not being enough space to light both the models and back wall. Also so much light in the small enclosed area would have been too much. And so my images, have slight shadows which adds a slightly warmer feel to my images, however are still bright and colorful, which made the contrast work really well- I used one light to light the background and one to light the models. I shot about 100 images during this shoot and then spent time narrowing my images down to 10. When editing down the amount of images, I had to bare in mind such things as the lighting quality, the composition, the coloring, the focus and the models facial expressions. I then narrowed my images down further to just 3 final images.
My 3 final images are high contrasted which enhances the vibrant bright looking outfits my models are advertising. My images show slight shadows, which adds a bit of depth to my images, however the shadows are very slight so not to take any attention away from the models and scene. The shadows were formed due to there not being enough space between the models and back wall to allow me to light both completely separately The 3 images I chose are quite different from one another, one being quite seductive and posed, one natural looking fun and the other quite retro and so I think they look quite effective as a series.
Sourcing models for this module was easy; I have 8 beautiful flat mates that were all willing to help. I decided on the models I did due to them being very different looking from one another, which I think, adds variety and more character to my images. I chose some contrasting outfits as I think that this works well with higher key lighting, as the colours become vibrant and more alive looking rather than flat and dull. I am pleased with my final images, considering I have had so little experience with studio lighting, I’m aware that I could improve my lighting a great deal however it was very difficult with so little space. Next time, I plan to use a bigger area for my shoot so that I can create a proper high key set up using 4 lights. However, for the sake of this project, I feel that the slight shadows and variation make the bedroom scene seem more real. Despite this being a group project, our group didn’t work very closely however we kept in regular contact to ensure our work was developing, and to offer our help to one another when needed.
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
My three final Images.
These are my final images, When editing down the amount of images, I had to bare in mind such things as the lighting quality, the composition, the coloring, the focus and the models facial expressions. I then narrowed my images down further to just 3 final images.
My 3 final images are high contrasted which enhances the vibrant bright looking outfits my models are advertising. My images show slight shadows, which adds a bit of depth to my images, however the shadows are very slight so not to take any attention away from the models and scene. The shadows were formed due to there not being enough space between the models and back wall to allow me to light both completely separately The 3 images I chose are quite different from one another, one being quite seductive and posed, one natural looking fun and the other quite retro and so I think they look quite effective as a series.
Image One
This image is probably the most posed out of all my images, the models stare directly into the camera which suggests confidence, their glare is almost seductive. The colours are vibrant, and the colours in their clothing are complimented by the flyers on the wall. The lighting is flattering on the models faces and i feel that the shadow in the fore ground of the image adds depth - it also suggest that the bed is a stage.
Image two
This image is almost retro due to the old film camera being used as a prop. I think the lightings really interesting due to me taking this image from above, and the lighting coming from the right hand side. I love the vibrancy of her blue dress and how all the colours in the image compliment eachother for example the colours in her head band and her tights.
Image 3
This image is the most fun, i caught them in action having a pillow fight. i really like the composition of this image-it looks almost posed. The lighting of the background could be improved here but it was difficult due to it being an action shot-the shadows were continuously moving. I can imagine this image in a teen magazine due to it being fun-something students can relate too.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Final Shoot
For my next shoot, I took out the elinchrom lighting. This time, because wanting to make my shoot a bit more High key I needed 2 or 3 lights (usually 4 would be needed but due to my space being so small and with it being not a plain white set I decided 2 would be sufficient) . One to light the scene and one to light the models.
In order to create the high key (ish)lighting I required I used a ratio of 2:1 to ensure less shadows etc.
I decided that my background needed to be between f stop 16 and 22, and then my model must be a stop down to ensure to separate the model from the background effectively like in this found image opposite.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Ratios and stop differences
Ratio Stops
Difference Description
1:1 No
Difference Flat
lighting
2:1 1
Stop General
color photography
3:1 1
1/2 Stops General
black & white photography
4:1 2
Stops Dramatic
lighting, low key
8:1 3
Stops Very
dramatic, low key
An important concept to understand when dealing with studio lighting for portrait photography is contrast. Contrast is the difference in the amount of light that falls on the dark areas of a scene and the amount of light that falls on the highlight areas of a scene. Humans can see a wide range of contrast while film and digital capture devices are much more limited in the light level ranges that they can record. For this reason, we must use caution when lighting a scene, and consider the ratio of the amount of light between light and dark areas or the Lighting Ratio.
Due to the latitude of film and digital sensors, it is the photographer’s goal to find the exposure that strikes the appropriate balance between the highlights and shadows. You must begin by deciding the desired “feel” of the final image. If you wish to obscure shadow detail and draw attention to the subject, high contrast lighting may be most appropriate. On the other hand, you may wish to show detail in both the highlight and shadow areas which would require lower contrast lighting. Once you know the effect you wish to obtain, you can begin to identify the proper lighting ratio for the shoot.
The definition of a proper lighting ratio is very subjective and can vary widely between photographers. There are, however several lighting ratios commonly used in commercial portrait photography that we can use to illustrate the process for determining this ratio in the studio setting. For example, a lighting ratio of 4:1 is common for traditional portraits. A 4:1 ratio indicates that there is four times (or two stops) more light in the highlight areas of the face than in the shadow areas. A 4:1 ratio gives enough light in the shadows that details can be seen, while creating the sense of depth required for realism.
To produce a portrait with a 4:1 lighting ratio, you would begin by determining the exposure values for the main light. Let’s assume for this example that there is a main light and a fill reflector. The main light is off camera right at 45 degrees and the fill reflector is off camera left at a similar angle. Remove the fill reflector and take an exposure with only the main. Use an incident light meter to measure the amount of light that falls on the side of the face nearest the light. This value will give you the working aperture for the shot. In other words, this exposure value is set such that you get proper exposure in the highlight area of the subject’s face. Now, add the reflector back in and take another exposure. This time, use the light meter to record the exposure value for the light falling on the shadow side of the face. The ratio between these two values should be 1:4 or two stops. So, if the highlight side of the face registered f11 and the shadow side registered f5.6, you have achieved the proper ratio. If you do not get 5.6 in the shadow side, simply move the reflector forward or backward to compensate taking a new reading each time you move it.
When the reflector or second light is placed such that fill light can spill into the highlight areas, extra caution must be used to calculate the resulting ratio. Be sure to measure highlights again and recalculate the ratio after adding a second light or reflector.
High Key...A high key portrait setup would involve the use of a white or off white background and brighter clothing. A high key portrait can be challenging as it requires a great deal of light control and has the most risk of overexposure and loss of detail. In general they would have a low lighting ratio near 2:1. A common background for high key portraits is paper which is slightly overexposed resulting in a pure white seamless background and a feeling of cleanliness. Great care is usually taken to separate the subject from the background to eliminate shadows. These portraits also tend to require more light and thus more power and lighting equipment to create.
Taken from-http://www.studiolighting.net/lighting-ratios-for-portrait-photography/
"Simplifying High Key with Consistency and Predictability"
By Scott M. Tallyn
Tallyn's President and CEO
High-Key photography is one of the most expressive types of portrait forms and can be used for singles, couples, groups, full lengths, or just head and shoulders. However, it is also one of the most demanding styles and requires competent use of metering and lighting techniques to achieve even, clean, pure whites and proper subject mood. In fact, a definition of high-key requires a definition of each word.
"High" refers to the position on the tonal scale which ranges from black to white, and "Key" in this sense means predominant tone in regard to the spectrum of light or darkness. Therefore, high-key translates to an achievement of the whitest continuous tone without letting that bright tone bleed into or affect the subject's color.
This effect is usually flattering to the subject and can make a statement by easily showing the qualities of a person and even make them appear more sensitive.
Since lighting of the high-key set is usually one of great debates among photographers and sometimes becomes complex, we will describe a simple 3 or 4 light concept that has proven very reliable for us and works well with this high-key set. We rely on the basic "Inverse Square Law" of light which states that as the distance between source and subject increases, the amount of light on the subject decreases inversely with the square of the distance.
Difference Description
1:1 No
Difference Flat
lighting
2:1 1
Stop General
color photography
3:1 1
1/2 Stops General
black & white photography
4:1 2
Stops Dramatic
lighting, low key
8:1 3
Stops Very
dramatic, low key
An important concept to understand when dealing with studio lighting for portrait photography is contrast. Contrast is the difference in the amount of light that falls on the dark areas of a scene and the amount of light that falls on the highlight areas of a scene. Humans can see a wide range of contrast while film and digital capture devices are much more limited in the light level ranges that they can record. For this reason, we must use caution when lighting a scene, and consider the ratio of the amount of light between light and dark areas or the Lighting Ratio.
Due to the latitude of film and digital sensors, it is the photographer’s goal to find the exposure that strikes the appropriate balance between the highlights and shadows. You must begin by deciding the desired “feel” of the final image. If you wish to obscure shadow detail and draw attention to the subject, high contrast lighting may be most appropriate. On the other hand, you may wish to show detail in both the highlight and shadow areas which would require lower contrast lighting. Once you know the effect you wish to obtain, you can begin to identify the proper lighting ratio for the shoot.
The definition of a proper lighting ratio is very subjective and can vary widely between photographers. There are, however several lighting ratios commonly used in commercial portrait photography that we can use to illustrate the process for determining this ratio in the studio setting. For example, a lighting ratio of 4:1 is common for traditional portraits. A 4:1 ratio indicates that there is four times (or two stops) more light in the highlight areas of the face than in the shadow areas. A 4:1 ratio gives enough light in the shadows that details can be seen, while creating the sense of depth required for realism.
To produce a portrait with a 4:1 lighting ratio, you would begin by determining the exposure values for the main light. Let’s assume for this example that there is a main light and a fill reflector. The main light is off camera right at 45 degrees and the fill reflector is off camera left at a similar angle. Remove the fill reflector and take an exposure with only the main. Use an incident light meter to measure the amount of light that falls on the side of the face nearest the light. This value will give you the working aperture for the shot. In other words, this exposure value is set such that you get proper exposure in the highlight area of the subject’s face. Now, add the reflector back in and take another exposure. This time, use the light meter to record the exposure value for the light falling on the shadow side of the face. The ratio between these two values should be 1:4 or two stops. So, if the highlight side of the face registered f11 and the shadow side registered f5.6, you have achieved the proper ratio. If you do not get 5.6 in the shadow side, simply move the reflector forward or backward to compensate taking a new reading each time you move it.
When the reflector or second light is placed such that fill light can spill into the highlight areas, extra caution must be used to calculate the resulting ratio. Be sure to measure highlights again and recalculate the ratio after adding a second light or reflector.
High Key...A high key portrait setup would involve the use of a white or off white background and brighter clothing. A high key portrait can be challenging as it requires a great deal of light control and has the most risk of overexposure and loss of detail. In general they would have a low lighting ratio near 2:1. A common background for high key portraits is paper which is slightly overexposed resulting in a pure white seamless background and a feeling of cleanliness. Great care is usually taken to separate the subject from the background to eliminate shadows. These portraits also tend to require more light and thus more power and lighting equipment to create.
Taken from-http://www.studiolighting.net/lighting-ratios-for-portrait-photography/
"Simplifying High Key with Consistency and Predictability"
By Scott M. Tallyn
Tallyn's President and CEO
High-Key photography is one of the most expressive types of portrait forms and can be used for singles, couples, groups, full lengths, or just head and shoulders. However, it is also one of the most demanding styles and requires competent use of metering and lighting techniques to achieve even, clean, pure whites and proper subject mood. In fact, a definition of high-key requires a definition of each word.
"High" refers to the position on the tonal scale which ranges from black to white, and "Key" in this sense means predominant tone in regard to the spectrum of light or darkness. Therefore, high-key translates to an achievement of the whitest continuous tone without letting that bright tone bleed into or affect the subject's color.
This effect is usually flattering to the subject and can make a statement by easily showing the qualities of a person and even make them appear more sensitive.
Since lighting of the high-key set is usually one of great debates among photographers and sometimes becomes complex, we will describe a simple 3 or 4 light concept that has proven very reliable for us and works well with this high-key set. We rely on the basic "Inverse Square Law" of light which states that as the distance between source and subject increases, the amount of light on the subject decreases inversely with the square of the distance.
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
bedroom shoot
I found the interaction between my models added a fun vibe to each image, and also a lot of truth to the images. I really like how the light falls on Georgias (girl in red) face in these images.
Because the area I was shooting was quite small I needed only one light create this mid key lighting effect. I found that two lights was too much for the small area .
During setting up the ranger kit, i took a few snap shots to experiment with the composition of my images in a more high key lighting .After my shoot i went through my images and decided that despite my first intentions i actually preferred the images shot more high key l rather than lower mid key. The images were more fresh and vibrant looking-and i think this would be alot more desirable to my target audience. My initial reasons for not shooting in high key were because i thought the images would lack atmosphere, but this was when i was planning in the studio- however i then chose to shoot in my bedroom which has atmosphere.The interaction between the models also adds an exciting and interesting atmosphere.
Monday, 7 April 2008
evaluative points
During setting up the ranger kit, i took a few snap shots to experiment with the composition of my images in high key lighting .After my shoot i went through my images and decided that despite my first intentions i actually preferred the images shot in high key lighting rather than mid key. The images were more fresh and vibrant looking-and i think this would be alot more desirable to my target audience. My initial reasons for not shooting in high key were because i thought the images would lack atmosphere, but this was when i was planning in the studio- however i then chose to shoot in my bedroom which has atmosphere.The interaction between the models also adds an exciting and interesting atmosphere.
The high key images also looked a lot more professional, and i could see them more in a glossy magazine. And so, i planned another shoot with my models in order to shoot more images in high key.
During the shoot, it was quite difficult trying to communicate my ideas with my models- and so i showed them some of the images i had come across in magazines so that they could see the general direction i was looking for.
Te models had a lot of fun during the shoot and i thinkk this added a lot of truth to my images= girls having a good time getting ready together before a night out
I think that the truth in the images make them alot more accessible to my audience as teenagers/young women could imagine themselves in the situations and so can relate to the models and could imagine themselves in the clothes they are advertising. I also think that the relaxed feel of some of the images suggest that the clothes being advertised, are comfortable etc to wear- which is suggested by some of the models positions
As expected, a photo which has tones in the middle of high and low would be called a middle key portrait. Often middle key portraits will use skin tone to set the mood. In these cases, clothing may be used to accent the tone of the skin with contrast rather than allow all elements to blend together. Often a high key portrait can be converted to a middle key portrait by reducing exposure.
The high key images also looked a lot more professional, and i could see them more in a glossy magazine. And so, i planned another shoot with my models in order to shoot more images in high key.
During the shoot, it was quite difficult trying to communicate my ideas with my models- and so i showed them some of the images i had come across in magazines so that they could see the general direction i was looking for.
Te models had a lot of fun during the shoot and i thinkk this added a lot of truth to my images= girls having a good time getting ready together before a night out
I think that the truth in the images make them alot more accessible to my audience as teenagers/young women could imagine themselves in the situations and so can relate to the models and could imagine themselves in the clothes they are advertising. I also think that the relaxed feel of some of the images suggest that the clothes being advertised, are comfortable etc to wear- which is suggested by some of the models positions
As expected, a photo which has tones in the middle of high and low would be called a middle key portrait. Often middle key portraits will use skin tone to set the mood. In these cases, clothing may be used to accent the tone of the skin with contrast rather than allow all elements to blend together. Often a high key portrait can be converted to a middle key portrait by reducing exposure.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
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