Lighting

Getting great light in an event setting whether inside or outside is a tough shoot. You have to understand exposure, people are moving sometimes erratically, ambient light is moving over your subjects randomly, and you still have to create sellable imagery. I photograph several nightclubs in Dallas, TX regularly and the imagery I’m creating is their marketing for new patrons. What I have to show is an inviting and fun environment whether it’s packed or not and where people will want to spend their weekday and weekend nights, and let’s be honest, their hard earned money. This lighting isn’t tough to do, but takes some thought to execute as you move throughout a room or outdoor area.

Philippe Halsman's "Dali Atomicus" is one of the most famous images ever, notable for its complex composition and remarkable timing that captured the soul of its famous subject. This modern re-creation goes to painstaking effort to replicate the original, and the process is very neat to watch.

One of the best things about window light is that you can find it almost anywhere. As winter approaches and chilly weather threatens to keep photo sessions indoors, photographers will face the choice of how to light their portraits. Strobes and flashes are a great option, but not all photographers own them. Almost everyone has access to a window though, and a window has plenty to offer any photographer who knows how to use it.

If you’re searching for inspiration in creating a spooky studio setup, look no further. This tutorial details how to create chilling portraits with silhouetted trees and a smoky backdrop, just in time for Halloween.

Broncolor is recognized in the photography industry as one of the most high-end flash brands available on the market. They are best known for their very reliable power pack systems and their extensive range of light shapers. Amongst the latter, there is one in particular that makes any photographer's eyes light up, and it’s the Para. It’s such a gorgeous piece of gear that some people even use it to decorate TV shows. But don’t think for a second it means it can’t perform just because it’s beautifully designed. It’s quite the opposite as you’ll discover through this Broncolor Para 88 kit review.

Don't worry, this video isn't about all about math. Rather, it aims to give you an intuitive understanding of one of the most fundamental laws of physics related to photography and shows you why it's so crucial to have a solid understanding of how it works.

When it comes to filmmaking, a really popular look is the cinematic look. This is something that can be really difficult to perfect especially when you're first starting out in the industry. Fortunately, Armando Ferreira, a YouTuber and filmmaker has provided some techniques that are relatively easy to implement. The great thing about the techniques outlined in this video is that they're either completely free to do or may only cost a small amount, making them very viable. Personally, what I love about the techniques Ferreira discusses is that they're so simple to do and even a complete beginner shouldn't find them too difficult.

Lighting: it's the beginning and end of photography. The way we think about light shapes our style, our techniques, and the way we feel about our art. Unfortunately, lighting, whether by natural or artificial means, can be intimidating. When we're learning about lighting, all too often we get so wrapped up in technique that we don't think about what we are doing before we execute. However, sometimes the best tips we can get have more to do with mentality than technique.

Different projects may require different things in the background to help sell the story we are trying to tell with our photos. Sometimes they can be as simple as using a window in the frame. What happens when you are shooting and there aren’t any windows that fit your vision, or any windows at all?

Usually for me it starts after the peak of fall foliage. After a busy year of spring portraits, wedding season, fall shoots, and some photographic trips sprinkled in, by the end of fall I find that it's easy to get a little bored with photography. Typically the inspiration needle on my gauge is in the red. While taking a break is never a bad idea, sometimes all you really need to do is challenge yourself. Presenting yourself with new opportunities to create photos and videos that may not normally be in your wheelhouse. Giving yourself some time to experiment can help you get back to why you started shooting in the first place.

Looking for an easier way to light up your subject in a variety of different ways? The creative duo from Bitbanger Labs that launched the pixelstick is back with a new invention, colorspike. It’s an animation-driven light that with photographers and video shooters alike.

Inspired by a recent photo book I purchased, "Creative Flash Photography" by Tilo Gockel, I set out to create a series of food photos this week as part of a Thai dinner theme my wife and I decided on. The principle here was simple: create a great image using a single speedlight and a bounce card. That’s it.

I found Irene Rudnyk a few months back when I was looking more into portrait photography. I found that her work stood out amongst a lot of other work because of how clean and straightforward her style was. In this video, Rudnyk goes over how she shoots in a small bedroom inside her house using only natural light and a reflector. This video goes to show that a good photo really can be created anywhere if you know exactly what you want and how to do it.

Lighting bald people can present some difficulties, as the extra exposed skin can create additional hot spots that take some care to prevent, while separating them from the background often takes a bit of a different approach than when working with someone with hair. This helpful video will show you a proper lighting setup for someone who's bald.

While many of us don't own dedicated studio strobes, most of us do own at least one speedlight. And while they may not be as powerful as their bigger cousins, they offer more capabilities than we might give them credit for. This fun video demonstrates how you can create a high-quality splash shot using only a single speedlight and a little DIY ingenuity.

Multi-light setups can be tricky to master, but they also offer a remarkable amount of control and creative possibilities. This helpful tutorial will walk you through one such setup with its take on a classic lighting setup, showing how each light contributes to the final image and how you can replicate it yourself.

When it comes to light painting, the tool you use to paint with is just as important as the camera you use to shoot with. Different tools give different textures of light, color, and intensities. The main issue here is that most tools are handmade and there isn't always a lot of information online about how to build everything. So when someone comes out with a well-made tool that you can use right out of the box, it’s time to take notice. That’s what we have here with The Ball of Light Tool from the master light painter himself, Denis Smith.

You might think that if you want a dark background in your photos, you need to be shooting with a, well, dark background. However, the beauty of lighting and exposure is that with a proper setup, you can turn even a white wall into a dark background. This helpful video will show you the basics of doing just that.

With its increasing popularity, photographers and videographers alike have begun to entertain LED lighting as a possible option for their shoots. Spiffy Gear believes they now have that solution, and it's called Spekular. Touted as the "Swiss army knife" to a creative's needs, they introduced their new product as the solution to make videographer and photographer's lives easier.

As photographers, we have but one raw material to work with: light. You will hear this time and time again, you need to learn to see that light and learn how your camera sees it. Knowing what to look for is just the beginning. Figuring out how to use light, or more importantly how you will use it, is the larger part of your photographic journey. Today, I’d like to run you through five types of light I love and use often.

Shooting off-camera flash is one of the most important skills you can learn as a photographer. In this video, you'll learn exactly how to do that during the evening and see some wonderful portraits made using the techniques contained herein.

There are several different ways to light up your subject for portraits, sometimes we can get caught up in needing more lights for our sets while forgetting there are other tools that can help. Reflectors can very beneficial in bouncing additional light in a cost-effective way. Whether it’s the sun, available light, or your own artificial light, reflectors can help you control the light. Aaron Nace over at Phlearn shows several ways to use a reflector, or a few, on-set to improve your portraits.

Artificial lighting is one of the best tools a photographer can learn to implement in his work. It’s not something we have to use and rely on all the time, but knowing it’s there and not being afraid of it is always best. When working in a studio for portrait and beauty photography, it can become a necessity depending on the natural light you have and the looks you shoot. In this short behind the scenes, Rossella Vanon shows how she created six different lighting setups that keep a consistent feeling. Take this opportunity to learn new lighting setups and understand her thought process when building a set.

Any photographer who has photographed or recorded multiple skin tones on film will know that lighting suitable for one skin type won't always work for another. Exposing for a dark skin tone may blow out a lighter skinned companion, and lighting for a pale skin tone may leave a darker skinned person in the shadows. So how do you properly light dark skin? Xavier Harding recently interviewed Ava Berkofsky, HBO's director of photography for the show "Insecure," for Mic to find out what her techniques are for lighting the show's black actors.

There are a ton of speedlight modifiers on the market today. Some utilize the miracle material we call Velcro, others use rare-earth magnets to affix their product to your flash. Photoflex takes a more traditional approach with their latest speedlight modifier by developing a collapsible octobox style modifier specifically designed for speedlights.

I’ve been a Profoto user for quite a while now, loving my B1s and B2s for wedding photography, and my D1s for studio photography. I’m a huge fan of off-camera flash, especially when it can be easily manipulated into looking like natural light when I need it to. After all, that’s what 99 percent of my wedding clients want: natural light and a golden-hour glow regardless if it’s raining or we’re shooting in noon-day sun. What I’ve been missing, however, is the portability of a small flash, and being able to use it on camera.

After weeks of rumors, Profoto officially announced their latest A1 flash; a speedlight sized powerful flash, which can be used both on or off camera. The company calls their latest product “the smallest studio light” and considering its features, they seem to be right.

At IBC 2017, Aputure laid out their normal cornucopia of products — lights, microphones, monitors — but they didn’t show everyone the prototype for the The Amaran MX, a tiny, credit card-sized brother to the Amaran AL-M9. Why not? Well it’s still a prototype, so I suppose we shouldn’t get too excited, but on paper, the Amaran MX looks like an incredible addition to their line.

For anyone beginning to delve into the art of using off camera lighting, it can be a bit daunting to decide where to start in acquiring new lighting equipment. Here is a great guide to the pros and cons of LED and strobe lighting so that you’ll be able to make the right choice for your next acquisition.

It's quite common to shoot photo sessions in unimpressive locations; it goes with the territory when shooting on-the-go and outside of a studio. Fortunately, we have options to help us transform boring locations into beautiful backdrops, and it’s easier than you think. Making simple light modifications and quick edits in post can mean the difference between creating average imagery versus creating imagery that impresses your clients.

Albert Watson. Legend. Period, end. With a career spanning five decades and multiple iconic images, his career in fashion and portraiture would be the aspiration of any budding photographer. Alongside Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, PDN recognized him as one of the twenty most influential photographers of all time. And in a new video by Profoto, the man whose subjects have ranged from Alfred Hitchcock to Kate Moss, discusses his approach to lighting, photography, and life.

Every year for the past few years, I’ve donated photo work to a local organization that puts on a half marathon in coordination with the local firefighters union chapter to raise money for local charities. Last year, I ended up doing a relatively simple shoot with just some firefighters and a ring light. This year, I wanted something different. And so, quickly and repeatedly, the question became, “Can we use real fire?”

A few weeks ago, I came across a post on social media from the Jônt about a shoot out contest inside a staged multi-million dollar estate which piqued my interest. Reading more about the shootout, it would be geared toward several different genres of photographers, as they would have vendors on site providing food, drinks, cars, and models at our disposal for the shoot out. First, you had to submit your info along with your portfolio to be one of the selected photographers to join the contest, I figured I would go ahead and throw my name into the hat and see what would happen.

In the boudoir industry it is a main priority to help the client feel confident and empowered. Some clients prefer the high-key fashion look associated with strobe work and solid backdrops. For those clients who prefer the anonymous images, Chris Nelson guides you through how low key images highlighting just the curves while shadowing the mood can help your clients make the decision for that large fine art wall piece.

Primarily, I'm a NYC Wedding Photographer. However, I also photograph business headshots in my NJ Studio as well. I love doing this as a side-gig that brings me extra money for practically no work at all. To be honest, I wasn't really all about it when D.C. Headshot Photographer Moshe Zusman told me I should start implementing it into my business. Seemed a bit boring and I didn't get how it would make me more money than the $10,000+ High-End Weddings that I photograph now. I was wrong.

Catchlights are those beautiful, almost imperceptible, reflections in the eyes of your model that bring their expression to life. When photographing portraiture every effort should be made to capture this light in their eyes, but sometimes they come out so faint the impact is simply not enough. Fortunately, there is an easy fix.

If you're just getting started with artificial light, one of the most challenging scenarios you'll probably undertake is mixing natural light and your strobes convincingly. This helpful video will give you some quick tips, as well as a neat trick for eking out a bit more shooting time during golden hour.

There might be no better way to learn and practice building up light in an image than through product photography, and as this great walkthrough tutorial shows, you don't necessarily need expensive gear to create a great result.

Lately, I have been attending more events to cover as a photographer, especially anime and comic conventions. My approach to most of my convention coverage is walking around the event and trying to take as many photos as possible of the cosplayers there, kind of a run and gun approach. Sometimes the cosplayers are on a tight time frame so I don’t want to take too much of their time, or there is just a lot of things going on and I want to try to capture as much as possible. Some of the cosplayers outfits are just amazing, so it's best to slow it down and take the time to give the cosplay and their outfit justice with the photo. So where do you start?

Last month, Godox announced that they were working on a flash unit that was specifically designed for smartphones. Now, they've made the Godox A1 available for presale. We already knew that the A1 would be capable of being used as an off-camera flash, a constant video light, or as a trigger for other Godox flashes. With the release of the product, we now have more specifics about the flash.

I often get asked about my lighting setup for wedding receptions. Receptions can be an unruly beast to light properly without good equipment. You never know what you’re getting into with things like ceilings, available light, and even the white balancing nightmare of the DJ’s LED light system. Don’t assume that these setups are going to make you a better photographer over night.

Ring lights used to just be a fun type of portrait lighting style, but now are becoming more and more popular for YouTubers and vloggers who need a soft, even light on their face for a camera that sits close to them. Caleb Pike from DSLR Video Shooter is a self-proclaimed do-it-yourself enthusiast, and made this tutorial on how to make a light that is similar to a ring light, but creates a triangle shape instead of a circle.

Golden hour. That time of the day where the warm sunlight makes every shot look like a magazine cover or a movie poster. It would be great if that light could last all day long. Yeah, well a lot of things would be great but not likely to happen. Location fashion and lifestyle photographers have to be able to manipulate daylight in a variety of ways in order to have a productive shoot that lasts more than an hour. Using the techniques of shade, diffusion, reflection, and strobe photographers can work with and against natural sunlight to create beautiful images all day long.

Shooting underwater already comes with many obstacles in terms of visibility, posing, light, and clarity. Thankfully lighting can easily be taken off this list in many cases with a few sets up from the surface. Connecting your land strobes to underwater is not as difficult as one may think.

Most lighting modifiers come with diffusion panels that soften and even out the light emitted. Some even come with two panels. These panels can have a strong effect on your light, and it's well worth understanding exactly what to expect when you use them or leave them off. This helpful video gives you a comparison of all three situations.

Quite possibly one of the most overlooked aspects of lighting a subject is the rim light. Not only is it a great method to make your subject pop off the background, it's a quick way to give your portraits a very professional look. This helpful video will show you everything you need to know about creating proper rim lights.

Standing under a waterfall with a flash battery pack is normally something I wouldn't advise anyone to do, but in this case, the equipment was rugged enough and the results were well worth the hassle. Check out this awesome shoot that combined a kayaker, waterfall, and strobes.

In a world saturated with photography, you have to find ways to stand out. If you are able to put in the extra skill and effort to make something that is unique, it can quickly gain attention. Backlighting is one technique I use to accomplish this. Initially, backlighting seemed like a difficult task. Extra equipment, more work, and setting up stands and lights all made it so intimidating as a new photographer. Now that I am years in, I can honestly say that my backlit shots have captured more attention and sold more jobs than any other one thing in my business.

Understanding light is at the heart of photography. The topic of light is a vast one but there are some fundamental concepts which should be mastered before all others. One of those is the difference between hard and soft light.

Chinese lighting manufacturer Godox has just released a few details about their most recent project: an off-camera flash for your smartphone. The Godox A1 is more than just a constant light, offering several options in what they are calling their first “phone flash system.”