First time with studio lighting..... and I liked it.

Stradawhovious · Dec 6, 2010

Well, I signed up for an introduction to studio lighting class.... and I have decided I like it. It's a neat little community ed class, that's mostly hands on and is taught in the studio of a local professional photographist. They supplied all the equipment and the model. After a brief introduction on equipment, how to set up, and how to meter, he turned us loose and let us set up the equipment we had available to us.

First we set up a speedlight, umbrella and reflector.....

then we went to studio strobes with beauty dishes and a hairlight.....

Which brings me to my point. I realize the above pics aren't anything special, but to me they are kind of a stepping stone. I'm plannig on getting a little more equipment, and practicing with this to take pics of the kids and neices to events, milestones, etc. Any resources on practicing with studio lighting? I'm planning on starting with a speedlight, and softbox or umbrella, and a couple of reflectors. I'm hoping to find some places to learn about lighting techniques and working with people as "models".

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Dominantly · Dec 6, 2010

It's fun isn't it?!?!

I did the same thing, well I didn't attend a class but I found myself on Strobist getting ideas, followed by a trip to my local camera store.

A strobe, stand, mount, reflector, & umbrella later and I was on my way to experimenting with creative lighting. It turns out the equipment was fairly cheap and the results were good. I highly recommend everyone pick up that simple cheap setup.

flyingember · Dec 7, 2010

the first photo is very masculine. (lighting wise)

what are the white spots on the second photo?

edouble · Dec 7, 2010

OCF is the shizit!!! Have fun!

Stradawhovious · Dec 7, 2010

flyingember said:
the first photo is very masculine. (lighting wise)

what are the white spots on the second photo?

Yeah, I'm sure the lighting on the first could use some work, but here the point wasn't necessarily to flatter the model, but rather to physically and visually see the difference between the two types of lighting..... and I have to say, its quite drastic.

The white spots? Not sure. If you're referring to the ones on her blouse, they would be reflections off of the buttons. Some day, when I learn how to use photoshop, I will fix her hair, and clone out the reflections. until then, Im going to try to learn which way is up on the beauty dish. :lol: