Learning lighting - Practical

7th October

We got to have a go in the studio and learn all about the different lighting. We got into groups and spent the two hour lesson taking photographs with different lighting setups by moving round the photography cubicles.

When you are capturing natural beauty, you should use a tripod and keep it mid face level as this will create the perfect view and angle for this look. If your model has bangs, you could capture a square shot and you can crop the top of the head off because the fringe is framing the face so you wouldn't create this type of image for someone without a fringe. You could use a beauty dish directly above your model when shooting beauty as this creates the perfect lighting for this type of shoot.

You will need to use a SYNC lead when shooting, this is what attaches the tripod to the light.

Basic settings

When starting to photograph, there are some settings your camera needs to be on.

• RAW image - this is especially good for when you are shooting portraits and head shots as it creates a professional look without looking too retouched.
• Manual - if you have the camera on automatic it changes the light.
• Shutter speed - this should be set to 1/160 because if you set it to 1/400 it creates a black shadow at the bottom of the screen, 1/600 creates a shadow that fills half the screen and 1/800 creates a black shadow over the whole screen)
• ISO - this should be on 100. This is essentially a volume switch, the louder it is the more distorted the image will be. The higher this is, the bright and more non existent the image. You should never have ISO on when the camera is set to automatic.

When shooting a beauty shot, you should stand further back and zoom in rathe than being up close. If you want to make the eyes stand out, you could use a silver reflector under the face.