Lighting interiors for fashion.

[thepixies]

Hi,

i shoot a lot of fashion. and most of my work and training has been working in the studio, seamless backgrounds, beauty shoots and stuff - and also out on location. but recently i've been wanting to shoot some interior work with models in the scene. , but i've been stuck when thinking about the lighting of the scene.

i would like to work with combining ambient window light, with flashes in the interior. but for some reason i cant get my head around working with light in a room, if that makes sense. and also including lamps, and actual lights in the image.

ive been looking at some architecture photos, and things. but can anyone think of any interior photography lighting books that would be useful, or any way i could start to get my hard around this. thanks alot.

 

[Big Mike]

It can be tricky when you are trying to combine interior/exterior/flash & ambient light.

They key is to remember that every flash photo, is actually two exposures (at least). One from the flash and one from the ambient light. It may turn out that the ambient exposure is insignificant and is completely overpowered by the flash exposure....but that's not what you are trying to do.

The ambient exposure is a result of the aperture & flash power (including the distance from the light to the subject)....while the ambient exposure is a result of the aperture & shutter speed. (ISO, of course, affects both equally).

So the aperture is a shared value but you can use the flash power to adjust only the flash exposure and you can use the shutter speed to adjust only the ambient exposure.

With that as your basis, you should be able to get pretty close to where you want. But of course, sometimes it just doesn't work out. For example, the outdoor light that is coming in through the windows, may be really bright, or it may be nonexistent. The interior lamps might be fairly bright or may be so dim that they just don't give enough light for your needs.
This is where you need to be creative and use what you have for the situation you are in.
For example, one trick is to create your own window light by putting a strobe outside. That way you can control the power and direction of the window light.

Of course there is the issue of color temp. If you are going to mix flash with interior and exterior light, you may need to use gels on your lights to help them match the the interior lights...or to change them to what you want.

If you haven't already, do some reading over at The Strobist, and maybe pick up some of the books that are recommended around there. I've read a book or two by Joe McNally, and there were quite illuminating :roll:

 

[Pugs]

Big Mike, that helps tremendously. I've never had it broken out as "flash power and aperture" as well as "shutter speed and aperture" before. This was one of those light-bulb, epiphany type moments for me. Thank you!